With less than two months until Christmas, I am going to highlight a few gadgets I’ve been testing that I think would make great gifts for the holidays.
There isn’t a theme, other than I have tried them all and I can recommend them.
I also realize everyone has a different budget for what they’d spend on a gift. Over the few weeks, I’ll try to highlight gifts in a variety of price ranges.
Typhur Dome Air Fryer, $499
I’m a huge fan of air fryers. I use mine a few times per week. It’s one of the only gadgets I have that’s earned a permanent spot on my kitchen counter.
My current air fryer is a 5.8-quart basket-type. You load up the food in a non-stick drawer.
The Typhur Dome ($499; ), looks more like a pizza oven than an air fryer, as it sits low and wide. It is also larger than most air fryers I’ve seen.
The Dome’s 5.3-liter cooking capacity is similar to my air fryer, but the Dome’s basket is wider and not as tall, which I find very useful. It can hold a 12” pizza or 32 chicken wings in a single layer. The tradeoff is you can’t cook taller foods, like a whole chicken.
The heating element and fan are closer to the food in the Dome, and Typhur says cooking times are decreased, but I’ve cooked in the Dome half a dozen times and haven’t noticed much of a difference in cooking times.
The Dome has a companion app that allows you to control it remotely and see how much time is left on your cooks.
In use, it is really quiet and the display is easy to navigate and use. Set the time and temp and press the start button. There are also dedicated buttons for cooking things like fries, wings, steak and bacon. It also has buttons to set cooking modes including air fry, roast, broil, toast and dehydrate.
Overall, the Dome is a great air fryer, but it is on the expensive side. I see this as more of a professional model for those who are already familiar with air frying but would like a higher-end machine.
Proscenic P11 Mopping Vacuum
What’s better than a really good stick vacuum?
How about one that can also mop your floors?
The Proscenic P11 ($199.99, Amazon) is definitely not a uni-tasker.
At 5.2 pounds, the P11 is lighter than other stick vacs, and it can run for up to 50 minutes on a charge. The vacuum has three speeds and a trigger that is an on/off switch, so you don’t have to keep your finger holding it down during use.
The multi-surface cleaning head has bright floor-level LED lights to show you where the dust is and the spiral cleaning brush is easily removable for cleaning.
The accessory tube is adjustable and the P11 also includes a crevice tool and dusting brush.
The .6-liter dust bin is easy to empty, and it has five-layer filtration to trap minute dust particles.
One of the best features is a detachable mopping head that rides behind the floor cleaning head. It has a 340-milliliter water tank that soaks the mopping pad as you clean.
The P11 is a great choice, especially compared to the higher-priced Dyson models that don’t have mopping options.
Ugreen Nexode 100W 2-in-1 GaN Desktop Charger
This charger is a heavy-hitter.
The Nexode 2-in-1 ($179.99, Amazon) hast three USB ports to charge your gadgets, including laptops. Two are USB-C that can put out 100 watts to fast charge a MacBook Pro from zero to 50% in just 30 minutes. The single USB-A port can provide up to 22.5W.
It is a GaN charger, which is a new charging technology that provides faster charging with more power at lower temperatures.
But that’s not all.
On top of the charger is a 15W Magsafe charger to keep your iPhone or Qi-compatible Android phone charged.
The Magsafe charger tilts to give a good view of your iPhone, which is perfect for the new Stand By mode in iOS 17.
The charger is about the size of a can of soda, and it weighs just about two pounds, so it is a tad hefty, but it does stow easily in a bag. This one can be the only charger you’d need on a weekend trip.