ST. LOUIS — Holiday shopping can sometimes be a struggle, especially when you’re trying to stick to a tight budget.
Consumer Reports has some great gift ideas for the tech lovers in your life for $50 or less that should make their holiday merry and bright.
First up is the Amazon Fire 7 Tablet with16GB for $50 ($70 in Canada). It’s a great low-cost device, especially for kids. It lets you create profiles, so everyone has their own home screen and the apps they want.
Although the display quality and processing power aren’t equal to those of an iPad, the Fire tablet does offer expandable storage with its built-in microSD card reader.
Next up, CR says to check out the brand-new Amazon Echo Dot 4 Generation for $50 ($70 in Canada). The newly redesigned Dot is in the shape of a sphere. Testers found that this version sounds a bit better than its predecessor.
And if you’re shopping for someone who loves taking pictures, check out the Kodak Printomatic Instant Camera for $50 ($70 in Canada). It’s the fastest instant camera of the ones reviewed, delivering photos in just 38 seconds. The Printomatic also stores your photos on an SD card, so you can print them out again wherever and whenever you want.
If there’s someone on your shopping list who could use a little peace and quiet, the wireless noise-canceling headphones from Monoprice BT-300ANC for $40 ($65 in Canada) may be just what they need.
CR’s tests found that the headphones have excellent active noise reduction and very good sound quality. And their noise-canceling feature can be used even when you’re not listening to music or videos.
CR says remember to get your online shopping done soon! There are so many people shopping online this year that shipping delays are expected.
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