10 Gadget Gift Ideas for Last Minute Christmas Shopping

It’s already December this week and everyone is feeling the Christmas rush already. If you have not yet started shopping for gifts this Christmas, it could get really busy and confusing especially if you have dozens of gifts in mind and have very little time to go around and prepare them.

If you’re short on time you could probably just shop online and wrap all the gifts yourself. That’s if you already have all the gift ideas in mind and you can all source them online.

However, if you only have one week-end to spare, you might be better of heading to the nearest SM Supermall and get everything in one go. Here are the top 10 gift ideas you might want to take note when heading for the mad rush.

Power Mac. Perhaps a new iPhone 6 is in order this Christmas. If you are looking to get an open-line unit, then official Apple Resellers like PowerMac is one of the places to get them. If you fancy something bigger and bolder, then a Macbook Air would be a good fit.

Digital Walker. If you don’t have enough wiggle room for a gadget as a gift, why not get a really good case for one (Incase, Spigen, Otterbox). Just make sure you know what the device and model you are buying the item for and that the one you’re getting looks much better. There are quite a number of selection to pick from if you check out Digital Walker.

Portable Hard Drive. One can never have enough storage so a new portable HDD from WD can be a good option. Western Digital’s MyPassport comes in 1TB or 2TB.

Asus Zenfone 5. There are so many Android phones to choose from but if you’re looking to give out one of the best bang for the buck handsets, the Zenfone 5 is among our top choices. It’s really affordable and the perceived value is way more than what you actually paid for. Just be a bit patient as stores immediately ran out of stocks.

GoPro Hero 4. Getting a GoPro instead of a regular digital camera might not make sense for first time users but it’s the one you’ll probably don’t want to skip of the person you are giving it to is the outdoor kind. If the Hero 4 is quite expensive for your budget, the cheaper Hero would do just fine.

Android or iOS Tablet.. While you can never go wrong with an iPad Mini, perhaps it’s also good to expand the selection to Android devices as well. Huawei’s MediaPad X1 is a good alternative if you need LTE but the Galaxy Tab S 8.4 could be the best candidate to look out. If you’re on a budget, the Acer Iconia Tab 8 or the 2013 Nexus 7 are still your best bet.

Smartband/Fitness Tracker. Your choices will either be a Garmin Vivofit, a Jawbone UP24 or a Misfit Shine. All three are very capable and comes with a nice app Android or iOS app.

Headphones. Sony has recently released quite a number of really good headphones. Harman Kardon has a good selection as well. Check out this HK SoHo we reviewed earlier.

Speakers. There are quite a number of portable speakers you can choose from ranging from X-Mini if you’re on a budget or the much bigger ones like the Bose Soundlink Mini or Harman Kardon Soundstick. We recommend the JBL Pulse as a fancy yet powerful addition to your Christmas list. We’ve had it for some time and love the psychedelic colors that functions like a visualizer and the sound quality is more than good enough for small gatherings or taking it on a trip out of town.

Powerbanks. One can never go wrong with a powerbank as a Christmas gift. It works on just about anything you plug it in. And don’t worry if the one you are giving already has one; they can always replace it with the better one you’re about to give.

If you are unsure which brands of powerbanks to look into and have really, really tight budget we have a list of 12 Powerbanks for under Php3,000USD 51INR 4,334EUR 49CNY 372 here.

The idea is that you can just go to one destination, like SM Cyberzone and be able to find and buy all of these gift ideas in one go. There are so many of them across Metro Manila and almost all SM Supermalls have an area for the Cyberzone.

During this time, most stores would offer free Christmas gift wrapping for free so don’t forget to avail of them. If you also have a credit card, ask for a deferred payment if that’s available at 0% interest. Check out our 5 Tips When Shopping with a Credit Card here.

Lastly, take note of the warranty and keep the receipt. You’ll never know you will need them in case the gift you bought suddenly conked out a week or two after you gave it.

However, if you still have a lot of time to spare for this month, then watch out for our more comprehensive list per category. We’ll be posting one each day this week starting off with YugaTech Christmas Gadget Guide 2014: Smartphones.

That’s it! We hope our short guide helped you in making that last minute decisions. #MerrySMChristmas to everyone!