For the longest time, gift ideas for women often revolved around flowers, chocolate or something pink…especially something pink. For years, if companies had to make anything specifically for women, they would more often than not just paint it pink and call it a day.
Tech gadgets were a part of this trend for quite some time. But gifts for women have moved beyond flowers, chocolates or something pink and with Women’s day around the corner, if you are still stuck on these options, you have to get out of the rock you are living under and step into the real world.
It is time gifts for women became more about making their lives easier and more efficient rather than something that would only sit pretty for a couple of days, irrespective of its colour.
So, here is a list of seven gadgets that you may get for the special women (or even yourself) this Women’s Day:
Apple Watch Series 8: Watch out for good health
There are very few smartwatches that focus on women’s health as deeply as the new Apple Watch Series 8 does. While Apple Watches in general have been often considered to be a great asset to one’s health and fitness, the Apple Watch Series 8, takes this a step further.
Apart from a number of pre-existing health-related features and functions like heart rate monitors, fall detection, ECG, and new ones like Crash Detection, and Sleep Stages, the latest Apple Watch now brings along temperature sensing specifically designed to get deeper insights of women’s health.
With the new temperature sensors on board, the smartwatch can track your temperature while you sleep and monitor the changes over time. This data is then used by the Cycle Tracking feature on the Apple Watch can then give you an idea of when you might ovulate which can be extremely helpful when it comes to family planning.
The sensors also can predict when you will next get your period and can also give you a hint about any possible cycle irregularities, which one can then use as a reference to talk to their doctor. Apart from normal uses, the latest Apple Watch can prove to be very useful for women. That said, you do need an iPhone to use it.
Samsung Galaxy Z4 Flip: Power and design to flip for
When it comes to smartphones, most seem to believe in the “bigger is better” philosophy but smartphones these days are getting too big for comfort and if you have petite hands or a habit of carrying multiple things in your hands, a skill women are notoriously famous for (thanks to years of living a pocket-less life), having an uncomfortably large phone can prove out to be an absolute pain.
But if you are someone who wouldn’t want to compromise on size yet would want something compact and eye-catching, the Samsung Galaxy Z4 Flip might be the phone you are looking for. It comes with a beautiful, tall, foldable Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with a 120Hz refresh rate and in the best Samsung tradition, this one is bright and dynamic as well.
There is a secondary AMOLED display on the back, which becomes the front when folded for notifications so that one does not always have to flip open the phone. A very capable dual primary camera setup with two 12-megapixel sensors allows you to take brilliant photos and all this is run by one of the most powerful Qualcomm smartphone processors in business, the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chip.
The phone also comes with IPX 8 rating and with Gorilla Glass on the back, which makes it quite sturdy. The only minus might be its battery which stands at a comparatively low 3,700mAh by today’s standards and supports only 25W fast charging which again isn’t much.
There is, however, support for 15W wireless charging and 4.5W reverse charging. There is no charger in the box, though.
The phone is otherwise the right combination of power and compact form factor and the foldable element is more than enough for people to stand and stare.
Stuffcool PB9018W power bank: Small, magnetic, and power-packed
Typically a power bank is big, bulky and boring. It is basically a brick that charges your phone when you run out of battery. It comes with some ports - a USB port, Type C or micro USB - a small button and LED lights as indicators. We seldom see anything beyond this.
While most power banks are bulky and bricky, there are options that can be trendy, compact and feature-rich too. One of these is the Stuffcool PB9018W power bank. Yes, the name does sound quite boring but we can assure you the power bank itself is nothing but interesting. It comes with a 10,000mAh capacity with support for over 22.5W of QC 3.0+ fast charging, MagSafe support for iPhone (so you can attach it magnetically to its back), 15W Qi wireless charging support and even has a small LCD display which shows you exactly how much charge is left in the power bank.
Although all this is quite enough to make this a stand-out power bank, it is actually the size of one, which is the star of the show. The Stuffcool PB9018W power bank can literally fit in the palm of your hand and is actually smaller than an iPhone 13 mini and weighs 200 grammes, which is lighter than some of the phones it can charge.
With a price of Rs. 4,990, it may be on the expensive side but it does come with a lot and can slip into a pocket easily, which is more than can be said of your regular brick-like power bank.
Nothing Ear Stick (1): Eye candy as well as ear candy
Carl Pei's new enterprise, Nothing has changed the design game in both the smartphone and TWS world. After launching the Nothing Ear (1) and Nothing Phone (1), both of which attracted a lot of attention for their striking design, the brand launched the Nothing Ear Stick (1).
The name might suggest they are inspired by sticks and that they are. But of the lipstick kind.
Nothing took inspiration from lipsticks, the common makeup used by many and created a gadget out of it. Nothing nestled its latest TWS in a cylindrical tube which rotates like lipstick does in order to reveal the buds.
The mechanism, although routine otherwise, comes across as quite charming when applied in tech. The Nothing Ear Stick (1) also have very good audio quality and while they do not have ANC, the fact that they do not dive deep into your ears means that they still leave scope for you to be aware of your surroundings. You also get decent battery life and an easy-to-use control system.
Mi Portable Electric Air Compressor: Air for those with tyres
One of the gadgets that every woman, especially those who drive must carry with them is a portable electric air compressor.
There are many different varieties of air compressors in the market but most are not too portable and do not come with rechargeable batteries. The Mi Portable Electric Air Compressor is a different proposition.
The air compressor is not only wireless but also comes with a rechargeable 2,000mAh battery that one can easily charge in the car itself using a micro-USB cable. It can charge up to five car tires in one charge but it can take up to eight minutes to charge a single tyre.
It is very handy and quite compact. So much so that it can easily fit in a handbag and can keep one from getting stranded in the middle of nowhere and getting to safety in the case of an emergency.
Logitech Pop wireless mouse: Clicks with everything…and with colour
The digital rodent has been around for years and shows no signs of going away. We are talking of the humble mouse which we now use with just about every device and not just desktops (even tablets and phones have mouse support now).
This makes the Logitech Pop wireless mouse a handy addition to your digital life. The cute, colourful and compact wireless mouse can slide into the smallest of handbags without any trouble.
It also comes with a dedicated emoji button, which with the help of Logi Options+ software you can assign an emoji, giving you a dedicated button for your favourite emoji.
Apart from emojis, you can also use the button to carry out other shortcut commands. The mouse can be connected to up to three devices simultaneously and you can easily switch between them using a small button given on its base. It can be used with tablets, notebooks and desktops, which makes it quite a handy all-rounder.
Redmi Smart Band Pro: Fitness on a budget
If you are not an iPhone user, or someone who does not wish to spend a bomb on a smartwatch, then the Redmi Smart Band Pro can fulfil your "fitness and health on your wrist" needs.
We say band/ watch because while technically the Redmi Smart Band Pro is a smart band, it actually flirts with the idea of the smartwatch as well.
It comes with a large-ish 1.47-inch colourful AMOLED display, something one generally sees in smartwatches. And of course, being a fitness band, it comes loaded with a number of health and fitness-related features like SpO2 measurement, always-on heart rate monitoring, over 110 pro workouts and auto workout detection.
What makes it stand out, especially in the smart band zone is the menstrual cycle tracking feature, a feature which is often missing from smartwatches at lower price segments, let alone bands. With a very impressive 14-day battery life, this band is super light on your wrist and on your pocket. And looks smart too!
