8 New Tech Gadgets You Should Know About

1. Tablet

For those times when you just want to kick back at home or in a hotel room and watch content on a tablet, pick up the Amazon Fire HD 10 Tablet with Alexa. It has a full HD display, 32 GB of expandable storage, and 10 hours of battery life - and at $149, it costs less than half the starting price of a new iPad. With Amazon’s hands-free voice assistant Alexa built in, this is a great, affordable media consumption device, especially for Amazon Prime members. Use your voice to search for and control movies and other content, or ask Alexa for the latest traffic, sports scores, or flight delays in your area.

2. Headphones

If you do a fair amount of traveling and appreciate great-sounding music, treat yourself to JBL’s Everest Elite 750 NC Wireless Headphones. They’re a bit pricey at $229, but the super comfortable “over-the-ear” design with padded ear cups, 15-hour battery life, and the ability to calibrate and fine tune the sound to your liking makes this a worthy splurge. And you’ll be oh, so thankful for the adaptive noise cancelling feature on your next long flight.

3. Earbuds for Fitness

Not a fan of corded earbuds at the gym? Lots of earbuds offer great-sounding wireless music, but Jabra’s Elite Sport Wireless Earbuds take it up a notch. The cord-free earbuds have a built-in heart-rate monitor that analyzes your fitness and activity, giving you personalized in-ear coaching or motivation to keep you going. They’re sweatproof and waterproof and boast a battery life of 4.5 hours.

4. Phone Case

If you like to stash your license and credit cards in your phone case and forego the wallet, Twelve South’s Book Book smartphone cases are the way to go. They’re not super slim but they are super-efficient. The case not only doubles as a wallet, it acts as a hands-free stand for when you’re watching video or making a video call. The case, closed, resembles a beautiful, vintage leather book, and the outer shell can be removed so you can easily place your phone in a dashboard clip or charging stand.

5. Give Yourself a Boost

Never sit by the side of the road waiting for a boost from AAA. The myCharge Adventure Jump Start is a handheld portable battery packing enough power to jumpstart your car multiple times. The 6,000 mAh battery can also charge your smartphone, your tablet and any other USB device you have with you. It comes with smart jump start cables, and an LED flashlight with an SOS feature. All that power folds up small enough to fit into the glove compartment. You just need to remember to bring it in every so often to charge it.

6. Alexa in the Car 

There’s no need to shell out 30 grand for a brand new Alexa-enabled car. For under $50 you can get that new car tech with the Anker Roav Viva. Plug the Roav charger into your power outlet, formerly known as the cigarette lighter, pair it with your phone, and you have access to thousands of Alexa’s skills. Use your voice to stream music, ask the GPS for directions to a restaurant, or ask Alexa to read you an audiobook. As you leave the office you can ask Alexa to turn up the thermostat and order you some dinner. All that and it also charges two devices while you drive.

7. Wheels in Motion

If you take a lot of short trips, you know how stingy airlines are getting with their overhead carry-on space. Whether you prefer a duffel, a spinner, or a rolling tote, Travelpro’s Crew 11 line is rugged, sturdy, and lightweight. The spinners have self-aligning wheels, so you can sprint through the airport, and some have a built-in USB port so when the flight is delayed and there are no open outlets at the gate, you can plug into the suitcase and stay connected.

8. Smart Luggage

Not too far in the future, like later this year, you’ll be able to get smart luggage that follows you through the airport. The ForwardX CX-1 is billed as the first self-driving carry-on. It uses a camera with built-in facial recognition, sensors, and a bit of AI magic to track and follow you as you walk. No word yet on how TSA feels about this but we’re up for anything that makes air travel a little easier.