Christmas Gift Guide
DJI Mavic Mini Drone
The DJI Mavic Mini is a more recent addition to the Hello I.T. office so a little more of a first impressions. But those first impressions are… drum roll please… love it!
Image from DJI
Previously Santa had brought an entry level drone, with camera, as an intro to drones. As with many drones in this bracket - the flight time was approx 9 minutes per charge and the camera quality left some to be desired. Even still though, this little piece of tech got plenty of use! So it felt like time to commit to an upgrade.
As a first impressions, I can speak to the main selling points for our team:
Only 249grams
Up to 30 minutes flight time per charge
Well recognised brand in the industry
12MP camera
Easy to fly with great support for learning via their app
So far, these have generally proven to be right on the money. From the first flight the instructions were clear and easy to follow. The camera quality is fantastic and the stabilisation from the onboard gimbal is incredible! A bit more practice needed but so far - huge thumbs up from our team.
Smart Plugs
Smart plugs are such an awesome gift! There are so many ways to make your home ‘smarter’ and you don’t have to ditch all of your devices or rewire your house to get there.
Image from Kogan
No more crawling under the Christmas tree to turn off the lights?! Sound good? Smart plugs can be connected via the app and / or via your Google Home or Alexa device. Once connected, the app essentially replaces the physical activity of flipping the power switch on a plug socket. Which gives you a surprising level of ease and control!
For the lazy person who doesn't want to get out of bed to switch appliances off to the person who always questions whether they switched their hair straightener off. Away from home but wanting to switch some lights on so that your neighbours are none the wiser of your vacant home. With a smart plug you can cut the power anytime, from anywhere as long as you have internet.
We have been using this one for over a year now with no issues but there are loads of brands and options to suit every budget.
“Dan’s top tip:
Multitasking! Connect your smart plug to a multi plug and control whole sections of your home in one go. ‘Hey Google, turn on lounge’ can switch on lights and TV / media centre all in one. And when you switch off - no energy wasting red lights flickering throughout the night!”