Techie gift guide

Our reco of the best and the most budget-friendly Xmas gifts for that special geek in your life

Geeky Gift

Augen Spiderman Bobblehead

The Augen Spiderman bobblehead is a cute chibi version bobblehead of the webbed superhero. The tiny figurine is perfect for your desk or even the dashboard of your car. If you don’t like Spiderman, Augen has many options from popular anime and comic books including Satoru Gojo from Jujutsu Kaisen, Groot and Batman. The entire collection is available on Amazon. 
Price: Rs 499

Lego Ghostbusters ETCO-1

For a true geek, nothing is better than a Lego set. Add nostalgia of a classic movie to the mix and you have magic. This Ghostbusters ECTO-1 set is not cheap, but it is rather complex with over 2,000 pieces. Once finished, your blocky masterpiece will be over 8 inches tall and 18 inches wide. The ECTO1 comes with a working steering wheel, ghost trap and a ghost sniffer. Ghosts unfortunately are not included. 
Price: Rs 21,999

Earphones

Nothing Ear 1

Nothing Ear 1 is a little expensive compared to most other true wireless Bluetooth earphones. However, the pair delivers on sound and it looks fantastic, they even have a new black version right on time for the holidays. The pair has active noise cancellation (ANC) and delivers sound through an 11.6mm speaker driver. Along with the case, you get around 24 hours of listening time with ANC on. 
Price: Rs 6,999

Sony WF-1000XM3

These killer earbuds from Sony come packed with a lot of custom Sony tech. It has a special HD noise cancelling processor QN1e that delivers an exceptional level of noise cancellation. The earphones deliver sound through a 6mm driver and offer a total of 24 hours of listening time including the power on the charging case. There is a newer version available for these earphones if you have someone coming. If not, the XM3s are possibly the best you can get.
Price: Rs 19,990

RTX30 Gaming Laptop

MSI GF63 Thin Core

Due to the chip shortage, it is nearly impossible to get a graphic card, but gamers have to game. Right now, branded pre-assembled machines and gaming laptops seem the only viable way to experience the RTX30 based Nvidia GPU. The MSI GF63 Thin Core seems to be the cheapest RTX30 laptop you can pick up. Cheap doesn’t mean it is a rubbish machine. Instead, it packs a 10-gen i5 Intel processor, RTX 3050, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD, 144hz 15.6-inch Full HD screen and comes with Windows 10 Home preloaded. All in a package that is less than two kg. 
Price: Rs 62,990

Acer Predator Helios 500 Gaming Laptop

The most discerning and wealthiest of geeks would probably go in for the Acer Predator Helios 500. This laptop has everything. An 11th Gen Overclockable i9 processor, 17.3-inch 120hz 4K display, an overclockable Nvidia RTX 3080 with 16GB GDDR6 RAM, 64GB RAM, 2TB SSD, 1TB HDD and a mechanical keyboard. This laptop is heavy at 3.9kg.  
Price: Rs 3,79,999

Gaming Phone

iQOO 7 Legend

Sure, iQOO is little known when compared to its Oneplus, Vivo and Oppo siblings. True bargain hunter will see that this phone has some great specs under the hood. The iQOO 7 comes with a Snapdragon 888, FHD+ 120Hz AMOLED screen, 8GB RAM, 128GB ROM, 16MP front-facing camera, a 48MP rear main camera and two 13MP rear cameras. For gamers, it’s got a 300Hz touch sampling rate. This is packaged with a 66W fast charger that can quickly fill up the 4000mAh battery. This phone is well worth the asking price.
Price: Rs 39,990

Asus ROG 5 Ultimate

As far as gaming goes, there is no other phone that comes close to the ROG Phone 5 Ultimate. It is a masterpiece stuffed with insane specs and gaming features. The Ultimate version of this phone comes with a whopping 18GB RAM, a massive 6000mAh battery, Snapdragon 888, 144Hz AMOLED Full HD+ screen, 24MP selfie camera, a 64GB main camera at the rear, combined with a 13MP and a 5MP. Along with the 300Hz touch sampling rate, it also comes with Air Triggers for an added edge while gaming. Not to mention the customisable logo at the back.
Price: Rs 79,999

Projector

Wanbo T2 Max

If you are looking for a home theatre experience for your resident geek on a budget, the Wanbo T2 Max offers Full-HD video at a relatively small price. The device is also super tiny which makes it great for carrying along on holidays. The projector has a built-in Android 9 system, which is not ideal but offers screen mirroring and a bunch of apps out of the box. It can easily display up to a 100-inch screen, but don’t expect it to be very bright, making it ideal to use only in darkness.
Price: Rs 17,900

Xgimi Aura

For the cinema geek who is never satisfied, the Xgimi Aura is possibly the ultimate prize. It is a 4K Ultra Short Throw Laser projector with 25,000 hours lifespan. This means you don’t need to place it far away from the screen or wall you plan to use, instead, it can be up to 17-inches away to produce a 150-inch screen. The brightness is also exceptional at 2400 ANSI Lumens, allowing you to enjoy the TV even during the day; of course, it still does work best when the room is a little darkened. It has a sound system designed by Harmon/Kardon for crisp sound and even has Android TV and a Chromecast built-in. 
Price: Rs 3,50,000

Console

Sup Retro game console

Sup, a retro handheld console, is China made but it packs around 400 classic 8-bit games including Super Mario Bros, Contra and even Mortal Kombat. The console has a 3-inch colour screen and runs off a 600mAh Nokia battery. The battery life isn’t great but you can easily buy multiple batteries. The game console can also be connected to a TV using an AV cable that comes in the box. You can easily find multiple versions of the console on Amazon, however, try and buy it from a reliable seller. 
Price: Rs 799

Xbox Series X/S with game pass Ultimate

When it comes to gaming, The Xbox Series X with Game Pass Ultimate is a complete package. The console has some of the best collections of games and it also has some games free to play on day one with Game Pass. It even makes sense for PC users to consider the Xbox because a lot of games support keyboard and mouse, making it a good alternative to a gaming PC. The Xbox Series X is a little harder to find though, so for the holidays, you may want to consider the cheaper Series S machine which seems to be in stock everywhere. 
Price: Xbox Series X: Rs 49,990, Xbox Series S: Rs 34,990; Games Pass Ultimate: Rs 699 a month

TV

Blaupunkt Cyber Sound 65CSA7030 65-inch

Who doesn’t like a big TV. The Blaupunkt 65-inch is a pretty decently priced 65-inch TV with 4K resolution and a more than decent sound output. The TV has an HDR10+ IPS panel with a refresh rate of 60hz. Sure, 60hz is not what you want for gaming, but for most, it won’t matter especially at this size. The TV is also powered by Android 10 and has a Chromecast built-in. 
Price: Rs 55,999

LG C1 OLED65C1XTZ 65-inch

The LG C1 is possibly one of the most exceptional TVs around. Capable of producing 4k at 120hz refresh rate. The TV is the crème-de-la-crème of gaming TVs with Variable Refresh Rate, Nvidia Gsync and AMD FreeSync. It even has a bunch of gaming enhancements built into its user interface. Not to mention it is OLED so the colours and contrast are by far the best.
Price: Rs 3,59,990

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