iDB Holiday Gift Guide: Timothy’s Picks

Holiday Gift Guide

‘Tis the season for warm fires, cold days, peppermint mochas, fruitcakes, shopping, and, of course, iDB’s holiday gift guide! Another year has passed, more tech and accessories have been released, and I’m more excited than ever to show you what I’ve been collecting this year.

Apple Watch band

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If someone on your list is the proud owner of an Apple Watch, what better gift to give them than a new band to add to their collection? I’ve gone hands-on with quite a few myself, and one of my favorite third-party bands is the light brown, top-grain band made from genuine leather available on Amazon for $37. It has a smooth appearance and a suede-like feel that is very pleasant to the touch, making it one of the more refined and subtly luxurious third-party bands I’ve tried (and I’ve tried quite a few).

If you’re looking for something with a bit more flash and shine, I recommend their crocodile leather band, which both looks and feels great. It’s also genuine leather, but the price is only $20 on Amazon.

Twelve South charging stand

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No matter if your recipient has an iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch, Twelve South has an excellent assortment of gifts. I highly recommend Forté, a truly luxurious stand for Apple Watch I previously reviewed, priced at $60. Alternatively, the $50 HiRise stand for Apple Watch comes highly recommended from the iDB team, as does the model of HiRise made for iPhone and iPad, available for $35.

Blue Yeti microphone

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While this gift may seem a little more specialized, the truth is that everyone from the aspiring singer or musician to the up-and-coming YouTuber or podcaster can benefit from owning a quality microphone. Connecting to any desktop or laptop via USB, the Blue Yeti records crisp audio in a professional manner while remaining easy to use. If you’ve heard any of our podcasts, the Blue Yeti is what Sébastien, Cody, and I use for recording. If anyone on your gift list is interested in audio, video, or music production, the Blue Yeti is an excellent microphone for its $100 price point.

Logitech G910 Orion Spark gaming keyboard

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Last year for my gift guide, I included Logitech’s G502 gaming mouse, which I still love to this day. More recently I picked up the keyboard companion, a full RGB mechanical keyboard, with Romer-G switches, on-board media controls, nine programmable macro keys, and a downloadable software suite that allows full customization of the keyboard, meaning the backlighting color of each key can be individually specified, allowing for some beautiful color combinations and making hotkeys easy to find while gaming.

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It even has a slide-out dock for propping a phone during use, and a smartphone app pairs with the Logitech software to display gaming and system information from your computer. The beautiful Logitech G910 Orion Spark gaming keyboard is available for $140.

iPad

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Although iPad Air 2 was a part of last year’s guide, I couldn’t help but include it again, but this time it’s a bit more open-ended. I absolutely love my Air 2 and the way it enables me to get things done quickly, but I’ve been eyeing the iPad Pro for the past month or so, and although I don’t own one, I really wish I did.

With pricing starting around $500 and climbing depending on the chosen configuration, iPad Air 2 is a wonderful gift for your loved one. If you want to go all out this holiday season, an iPad Pro is certainly a wonderful way to do it. Beginning at $800, this is the ultimate gift to place under the tree this year.

Anytime I’m making a purchase, whether it’s for myself or someone else, I make sure it’s of a quality worthy of my money. And after using these products, many on a daily basis, I can definitely say I’m happy with my purchases and enjoy using them regularly, whether for work, pleasure, or leisure. Be sure to let me know which of these products you like or have used yourself, or which ones you intend to buy as gifts this holiday season. Have a wonderful rest of the year!