Sometimes the best presents are the ones that benefit the entire family, and help the homestead, and that’s exactly what this set of suggestions focuses on.
Kwikset Kevo Smart Lock
Price: $250
You don’t often think of the home lock as being a gadget you can replace, but the Kevo Smart Lock is one of those things that can change your opinion on technology.
Specifically, this is a smart lock, in that while you can use a standard key to unlock the lock mechanism, you can also unlock the door using your phone. That means you just need to hold your phone nearby running the Kevo app and the front door will unlatch and open.
That’s a cool feature, but possibly the best part of the lock is how it deals with guests: when you want to give someone a key, you assign them a temporary code that lets them open the door for a set amount of time.
Oh, and just in case your phone is out of juice, there’s even a little key fob to let you in wirelessly, ideal for the person that doesn’t have a mobile or barely knows how to use the one they have.
Philips Hue Starter Kit
Price: $300
Upgrading the home could start with the lock, or it could come from a bright idea, emphasis on the “bright” part of that statement.
Easily one of the more product-rich line-ups of home improvements around, the Philips Hue line of lightbulbs brings the world of WiFi control to that of the lightbulbs in your home, allowing you to change the colour and hue of your lights, while also timing them.
The lightbulbs themselves take the power from the light socket as you’d normally expect, but they talk to apps and a home network by way of a special bulb router, letting you take control of your home lighting in a way that makes it feel like you’re living in the future.
Hey, you can even add an optional “Hue Tap” for $80 that will deliver a light switch powered by the kinetic energy of your finger.
Read more about this…
Sharp KCA60JW air purifier
Price: $899
If allergies and mould are a bit of a problem for someone you know, and there’s a bit of resistant to dry air, too, Sharp may have a solution in the form of a very large white box.
This white box isn’t like other white boxes and relies on Sharp’s proprietary ionisation technology which kills mould spores and other impurities by firing off positive and negative ions at the same time, cleaning the air in the process.
A humidifier is also packaged into the product, at least giving some piece of mind for when it gets too dry and the air needs a bit of loosening up.
Dyson V6 Absolute stick vacuum
Price: $899
One of the fastest vacuums we’ve ever set our eyes on — and our dogs have ever run from — Dyson’s V6 takes one of the digital motors Dyson is known for, packs it into a small chamber, and throws it together with a heap of technology to produce one of the most convenient cordless vacuums around.
The “Absolute” is basically the best of the best for the brand, delivering two cleaning heads depending on if you have both carpeted and wooden floors, while also delivering a filtration system at the back to deal with air problems as you clean the home.
Worth noting is that wireless nature of the Dyson V6, because this thing doesn’t need wires except at the docking point where it charges the battery, delivering up to 20 minutes of charge as you clean the home.
Breville The Boss blender
Price: $999
Pretty much the best blender you’ll find, this gadget will be useful for more than just the occasional beverage and smoothie, with some pretty severe cutting power possible here.
We’re talking the ability to grind un-popped corn kernels into polenta, and make nut butters if you wanted to. Hey, you can even make pesto in this thing. It’s like a food processor, and yet isn’t.
What it’s not isn’t worth talking about, though, because it’s just about the best blender we’ve ever seen.
Samsung Activ DualWash washing machine
Price: $1399
Everything is changing, and that means laundry gadgets can too, and Samsung’s Activ DualWash aims to get your attention if you do a lot of washing, and sometimes a lot of scrubbing, too.
We first heard about this thing at CES this year, and while it was quietly launched on an unsuspecting public, features like two types of water sprays, a low noise spin system, and a sink for scrubbing that will release the clothes and the water to the barrel below make us wish more noise had been made about its release.
Jura Impressa F9 coffee machine
Price: $2499
Know someone who likes coffee, but they can’t do that instant espresso stuff that Nespresso machines, Lavazza machine, and so many pod machines churn out? Cool, because Jura’s Impressa is designed to impress in this regards.
Taking both whole bean and ground bean, this black box can turn both types of coffee into the stuff you’ll want to drink, with a scroll wheel getting you around a simple menu and making the drinks that will keep you awake, and that you can later
Miele W1T1 washing machine and dryer
Price: $3999 each
The latest laundry appliances from Miele are a little different from your regular box of laundry machines, with Miele crafting two $4K machines that don’t just pack in some large barrels, but try to tweak the washing and drying process
For instance, the W1 washing machines includes two specialised detergents that you don’t have to use, but when you do have been developed to treat clothes differently, with the first removing protein and grease ,while the other doing a little more to kill stubborn stains.
A secondary capsule system is made for special care garments, aimed at treating wool and silk better than a standard fabric type.
Miele’s dryer does something similar to this, incorporating fragrance in a liquid dispersion system as a change from the dryer sheets you might be using.
Is it revolutionary? Not really. Does it make up the cost for either the machines? Probably not, but with 5 and 6 star ratings for energy and water for the machines, you at least know you’re getting the best tech.
King Cloud II Couch with Charging Bay
Price: $7400
A new couch could just be the present to end the year on a positive note, and while we don’t normally talk about furniture, we do when it involves gadgets.
And Aussie brand King may have that box ticked with its Cloud II, relying on a gesture-based touch controller to tell the chair how you want it to automatically recline, while also letting you customise the design to include charge points for your devices.
Just think about that for a second: you can recharge a smartphone or tablet with the couch.
If that’s not enough, speakers can also be mounted to the side of the couch, because surround sound is always better when its the furniture doing the holding for your speakers and dropping them next to your ears. Why not.
Samsung Chef Collection refrigerator
Price: $7999
Yes, you’re seeing that price right, and no, it’s not a mistake. This 8K refrigerator may arrive with around 8K, but it’ll technically hold nearly a hundred litres per K, maxing out at 751 litres. Yikes.
That makes it a positively massive fridge, and the goodness doesn’t stop there, with Samsung consulting with chefs to get this one looking and performing the way it does to offer a place for your dishes and wine to chill on the “chef’s tray”, while the “chef’s pantry” allows proteins to be cooled at minus one degree different from the rest of the fridge, which itself can work with three specifically different temperature zones.
But yeah, there’s that price. If you’re buying something for the food buff and you have this sort of cash on easy dispense, well, you know what you need to do.
