Kalakshar US

After years of buildup, Fisker has finally started building its ambitious electric Ocean SUV in Austria. The company pledged to start production by the end of 2022, so it has met that target with around six weeks to spare.

If you didn’t lock in a pre-order for the EV swiftly, you may still be in for quite a wait before you get your hands on the Ocean. Fisker will ramp up production gradually. It plans to build more than 300 units in the first quarter of 2023, increasing to more than 8,000 the following quarter. For Q3, the aim is to make more than 15,000 units. All told, Fisker expects to assemble around 42,400 units in 2023.

Two of the Ocean trims have sold out in the US for 2023 and the company has received more than 63,000 reservations in total. The limited-edition Ocean One trim, which is based on the high-end Ocean Extreme, required a $5,000 deposit and sold out within 30 days earlier this year. Fisker will crank out 5,000 units of the Ocean One before moving on to other variants.

The Ocean Extreme, which starts at $68,999, is capable of traveling 350 miles on a single charge, according to Fisker. The SUV boasts what the company claims is the first digital radar system as a safety feature. The Ocean Extreme has dual-motor, all-wheel-drive with 550 horsepower, which can accelerate the vehicle from 0 to 60 mph in 3.6 seconds. It also includes three driving modes, a 17.1-inch rotating screen you can play games on and a solar roof.

The base-level Ocean Sport is selling for $37,499, while the mid-tier Ocean Ultra will set you back $49,999. The Sport has one 275 hp engine that can take the car from 0 to 60 mph in 6.6 seconds. The dual-motor Ultra has 540 horsepower and a 0 to 60 mph time of 3.9 seconds.

Fisker claims the Ocean is the planet’s “most sustainable vehicle.” The SUV is being assembled in a carbon-neutral factory. The vehicle also includes more than 50 kg (110 pounds) of recycled, biodegradable and overall eco-conscious materials.

 

True, Black Friday isn’t for another week, but as we expected, Amazon is launching some of its best deals early. Right now, we’re seeing steep price cuts on Fire tablets, with discounts between 33 and 50 percent. That puts the new-for-2022 Fire HD 8 Plus tablet down to just $65 from its list price of $120, and Amazon’s largest tablet, the Fire HD 10, at $75, instead of its usual $150. 

This year, Amazon revamped all of their 8-inch tablets, giving them a thinner profile and faster processors. The Black Friday sale marks the first time Fire 8 tablets have gone on sale since their release in September.  

Shop Amazon’s Black Friday Fire 8 tablet sale

While you’ll usually see moderate, 20 percent discounts on brand new devices, Amazon is going all in with up to 47 percent off the new Fire 8s. The biggest discount goes to the kids tablets, putting them at $80 each. The Fire HD 8 Kids tablet is geared towards kids aged three to seven and has a more robust case and web browsing that includes a selection of safe sites. The Fire HD 8 Kids Pro is also $80, but this one is for kids aged six to twelve. It has a slimmer protective case and an open but filtered web browser. Both come with a year of Amazon Kids+, a service granting access to age-appropriate e-books, games, and audiobooks. 

A handful of Amazon’s other tablets are seeing up to 50 percent discounts, with half price deals on the 2021 Fire HD 10 tablet. The 10 series are the only full HD tablets Amazon offers, featuring screens with 1080p resolution, and the only model Amazon makes a keyboard for. If you’re looking for a tablet to help with productivity, go for the the Fire 10 or even the Fire 10 Plus, which is 42 percent off and offers wireless charging and an extra gigabyte of RAM. 

Shop Amazon’s Black Friday Fire tablet sale

There’s also a half-price deal on the 2022 Fire 7 Kids tablet. Like the Fire 8 Kids tablet, the Fire 7 Kids tablet is made for younger kids, aged three to seven, but with a one-inch smaller screen, which might be easier for little hands to use. 

Amazon tablets are already among the most affordable slabs out there, and these markdowns could be enough to put them in stocking-stuffer territory. For less than $100 you can get a casual-use tablet to give as a gift or keep for yourself for laidback couch surfing.

Get the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday offers by following @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribing to the Engadget Deals newsletter.

 

Amazon has kicked off another sale on its Echo Show smart devices ahead of Black Friday. Among the discounts are the Echo Show 5 down to $35, the Echo Show 8 down to $70, and both the Echo Show 10 and Echo Show 15 each down to $170. The Kids edition of the Echo Show 5 is also on sale for $40. 

Buy Echo Show 5 at Amazon – $35Buy Echo Show 8 at Amazon – $70Buy Echo Show 10 at Amazon – $170Buy Echo Show 15 at Amazon – $170

We’ve seen all of these deals at various points in the past, but each match the lowest prices we’ve tracked to date, including the discounts we saw during the company’s Prime Early Access Sale in October. There’s a chance things drop lower on Black Friday proper, but since Amazon is advertising these offers as “early Black Friday deals,” we’d expect them to carry over.

Within the lineup, the Echo Show 8 offers the best balance of price and performance. Its 8-inch, 1,280 x 800 resolution is sizable enough for most streaming and video calling needs, its processor can keep up with most Alexa-related tasks and its speakers are powerful enough to fill a room. The Echo Show 5 and its 5.5-inch display are a step down across the board, but it can still be useful as a smart alarm clock. We gave the two review scores of 87 and 85, respectively, last year. The Kids version of the Echo Show 5, meanwhile, is essentially the same as the original model, but includes a year of the company’s Kids+ content service, a simplified interface, and a two-year warranty (the standard model comes with one).

The Echo Show 10 and Echo Show 15 are more niche — the former has a rotating base that lets its 10.1-inch display follow you around during video calls, while the latter’s 15.6-inch panel is designed to be mounted on a wall. We gave them review scores of 83 and 78, respectively. Both are still difficult to recommend to most when the Echo Show 8 can do most of the same Alexa things for less, but if you want a bigger display, they’re at least a bit more affordable here. 

If you’re into the idea of a smart display but prefer the Google Assistant to Alexa, Google’s 7-inch Nest Hub and 10-inch Nest Hub Max are also currently on sale for $50 and $164, respectively. The broad strokes of those devices are similar to their Amazon counterparts, though the Nest Hub lacks a built-in camera for those who don’t want another one of those in their home. We gave the Nest Hub a review score of 89 last year, while the larger Nest Hub Max earned a score of 86 back in 2019.

Get the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday offers by following @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribing to the Engadget Deals newsletter.

 

Everyone has different levels of interest when it comes to home automation, but I’d argue that a smart lock is one of the best and most impactful ways of upgrading your abode. And with the Assure Lock 2, Yale’s latest smart deadbolt is easy to install, it’s simple to use and it works with all the major smart home platforms (including the recently finalized Matter protocol). Also, because the device is available in a wide range of finishes and configs, there’s a good chance it’ll fight right in with your home’s design. In a lot of ways, it’s the do-everything smart lock.

The basics

The Assure Lock 2 is available in three finishes (black suede, bronze and satin nickel) across four basic configurations: a $160 keypad version with physical buttons that can be specced both with and without a physical keyhole and a slightly more sophisticated $180 touchscreen model, which once again supports both keyed and key-free setups. By default, the lock features Bluetooth connectivity, but for people who want deeper integration with smart home ecosystems, Yale sells modules that can add support for WiFi, ZigBee and Matter. (Note: There are also versions of the lock that come with the WiFi module pre-installed starting at $240. However, while Yale says the Assure Lock 2 is fully compatible with the Matter standard, its Matter modules aren’t expected to be available until early 2023).

For the purposes of this review, I’ll be focusing on the keypad model with WiFi and a dedicated keyway, as it offers the best combo of traditional convenience and new school smarts.

Setup and installation

I admit the idea of installing a deadbolt might sound a bit intimidating for some, but there’s really not much to be concerned about. Yale says the Assure Lock 2 is designed to work with most doors used in the U.S. and Canada, with support for boreholes up to 2 ¾-inches in diameter on slabs up to 1 ¾-inches thick. The only tool you need is a Phillips head screwdriver, so even mildly handly city folk like myself had no trouble screwing everything down in under 30 minutes. And that includes a small bit of troubleshooting I had to do with customer service.

The first step is removing your old deadbolt. After that, you can use the included installation manual or download the Yale Access app (you’ll need it later anyways) which features a really thorough step-by-step guide, complete with videos and visual aids. The box also includes a paper template to help you figure out the size of your door, which is important because there are a few packs of different-sized screws you’ll need to use depending on its specific dimensions.

Once the deadbolt is installed, the next thing you need to do is mount the DoorSense module, which is what allows the Assure Lock 2 to figure out when your door is open or closed. You can choose to stick it on the door frame near the lock, which just requires a couple of included screws and some pre-installed double-sided tape. Or you can go for a more seamless installation by hiding the sensor inside the frame of the door. But you’ll need a ⅝-inch drill bit for that so you can hollow out a hole for the DoorSense’s magnet.

The one part where the device got tripped up was during calibration, which is when the lock attempts to latch and unlatch itself in order to figure out when the door is properly secured. Unfortunately, even though my previous deadbolt was a WiFi Smart Lock from August (which like Yale is owned by Assa Abloy), the depth of my latch was a bit too shallow, preventing the lock from extending all the way. However, after calling Yale’s customer support, a friendly agent named Victor had me email a picture of my lock, which helped us sort out the issue. And after digging out the cavity for the latch a bit more, everything worked perfectly.

In use

Once you get everything up and running, the Assure Lock 2 really shines. It’s like a Ronco rotisserie oven, you just set it and forget it. You can assign multiple entry codes and invite guests as needed via the Yale Access app. If someone uses the PIN you assigned them, the app records a log of when they entered. However, if you use the auto-unlock feature, you may never need to use the keypad at all. That’s because anytime you go more than 200 meters away from home, it uses Bluetooth or Wi-Fi to determine when you are coming back so it can unlock automatically as you walk up. And even though on Android devices you get a warning that the auto-unlock feature may be a little slow on certain devices, I never had any issues when using either a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 or Google Pixel 6.

When you’re leaving, you can simply press the Yale logo to lock your door. Or you can be even lazier and enable the auto-locking feature. I have mine set to a latch a minute and a half after the door is closed, which is just enough for me to leave, walk to the trash chute in my building and get back before the deadbolt re-engages, but not so long that someone could feasibly sneak in behind me without being spotted. And because the deadbolt also supports voice assistant integration, you can unlock your door just by asking Google, Alexa or Siri. (For those worried about voice controls being a security issue, the system makes sure to ask for a PIN when using spoken commands. So don’t use them if someone you don’t trust is around.),

The unlocking options don’t stop there though, because for those with Apple Watches, you can simply move your wrist near the lock and use Bluetooth to let you in. And as always, you can simply open the app if you prefer a more manual approach. Most importantly none of these options failed me even once during testing. So you may never need to use a physical key again unless you really want to (though, I still like having one as a backup in case of emergency).

Another bonus of the Assure Lock 2’s new design, is that now it’s around 30 percent smaller than before. And when compared to something like August’s locks, it also sports a more traditional, so you don’t have to explain how to unlock the door visitors want to leave (which happens a lot more often than you might imagine). However, the downside is that because you’re replacing the entire deadbolt instead of adding a device on top of your existing hardware like with some of Yale’s rivals, the Assure Lock 2 might not be a great option for renters or people with strict HOAs.

Also, while I didn’t do this myself, if you want to upgrade to a new lock but really don’t want to change out all your keys, Yale even offers a service called Keyed Alike. For a small fee ($4), you can send Yale the code for you current lock’s cylinder and when your new deadbolt arrives, it will work with your existing set of keys.

Battery life

Yale says the Assure Lock 2 with WiFi’s battery life is around three months, depending on how often you’re coming and going. And while I was initially a bit disappointed that the lock relies on four disposable AA batteries, Yale says that due to fire safety regulations, the company isn’t allowed to use rechargeable cells. You can put your own rechargeables in if you really want, but if anything goes wrong, that’s on you. Oh, and for anyone who goes with a keyless model, in the event that the lock’s batteries die while you’re out, you can tap a 9-volt battery on the contacts on the underside of the housing, which gives the lock just enough juice to let you in.

Wrap-up

With the Assure Lock 2, Yale has created a smart deadbolt that really covers all the bases. You get four different configs in a variety of finishes. And thanks to compatibility with a wide range of standard door sizes, there’s a high chance it’ll fit right in on your home. So while other smart locks offer similar features like auto-unlock and the ability to detect when your door is ajar, they often don’t provide the flexibility of both keyed and keyless options while also lacking support for all the major smart home protocols (WiFi, Zigbee and Matter). But my favorite thing about the lock is that it accomplishes what every really great smart home device should do: it gets out of your way. Once it’s installed and configured how you like, you don’t really have to worry about it again. The Assure Lock 2 makes it easier to track and control who’s going in and out of your house and if you’re looking at getting a new smart lock, this one needs to be at the top of your list.

 

Lyft’s app is now more useful for taking care of your own car, not just hailing a ride in someone else’s. You now have access to a trio of maintenance and parking features in the US through a dedicated app section. You can ask for 24/7 roadside assistance through Agero, including tow trucks. SpotHero now helps you reserve parking. And if you need a repair or tune-up, you can soon book car maintenance at Goodyear Auto centers.

Not surprisingly, Lyft is offering some incentives to Pink subscribers. A membership covers four roadside help “events” per year, and Goodyear’s services are 15 percent off. Most of the features are available nationwide, although you can’t get roadside help in Nevada. Parking services are only available in 30 cities, including Chicago, Denver, New York City and San Francisco, although Lyft says more regions are “coming soon.”

It’s not hard to see the strategy behind these additions. On top of boosting Pink subscriptions, this could keep you in Lyft’s ecosystem even if you have no need for ride hailing, bikes or scooters. The company can help you through “all phases” of your life, as fleet head Jody Kelman explains. Still, you might not mind if you’re willing to trade flexibility in providers for the convenience of booking all your car services in a single app.

This might also represent slight competitive advantage over main rival Uber, whose app still revolves around on-demand rides. In theory, you might stick to Lyft simply because it addresses more of your transportation needs.

 

Toyota impressed many onlookers this week with a sleeker redesign for the Prius. It turns out that the 2023 Prius Prime, the plug-in hybrid model, is also getting the new look as well as some other upgrades. For one thing, Toyota says that a larger lithium-ion battery will improve on the previous model’s EV range of 25 miles by over 50 percent (i.e. to at least 37.5 miles). As such, you’ll be able to take longer trips before starting to use gas.

Another neat feature is the solar roof. These panels can recharge the battery when the Prius Prime is parked. When you’re on the road, the solar roof can provide auxiliary power to functions like air conditioning to lessen the load on the lithium-ion battery. Toyota adds that the solar panels’ electrodes are concealed to maintain the plug-in hybrid’s sleek look. “A focus for Prius Prime is to allow it to have a similar ethos to the new Prius hybrid model, but with a little something extra — more performance, technology, safety and even a little attitude,” the automaker said.

The 2023 model is lighter and more rigid than previous ones, Toyota claims, while it has a low center of gravity and larger luggage capacity. The vehicle is two inches lower, an inch wider and an inch longer than the previous Prius Prime, with a hip point that’s nearly an inch lower too.

In terms of performance, Toyota says the fifth-generation hybrid powertrain and 2.0-liter engine help deliver a horsepower increase of nearly 100 hp over the last-gen model to 220 hp. The vehicle can seemingly go from 0 to 60 mph in 6.6 seconds too.

As with the base Prius, the Prius Prime supports both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Toyota’s own Intelligent Assistant enables you to search for directions, tweak audio settings, change cabin temperatures and more with voice commands. To help you figure out how to get to where you’re going, the Cloud Navigation system uses the latest available map, traffic and routing information. Alternatively, you can get some help from a live agent via Destination Assist.

Other features include a JBL Premium Audio system with eight speakers and six USB-C ports. A digital key system is available on some trims as part of the Remote Connect service, enabling you to lock and unlock doors, start the engine and more with your phone.

Elsewhere, the Prius Prime comes with Blind Spot Monitor with Rear Cross Traffic Alert as standard on all trims. Front and Rear Parking Assist with Automatic Braking is available as an option on SE variants and as standard on the XSE and XSE Premium grades. Those who opt for the XSE Premium trim will have the option to use a Panoramic View Monitor feature that allows for a live rotating 360-degree view around the vehicle, as well as a hands-free system that can help with parallel parking and reversing into a parking space.

Although Toyota will announce pricing and availability for the base Prius by the end of the year, you’ll need to wait longer to find out that info for the Prius Prime. The company says it will reveal pricing and the on-sale date for the plug-in hybrid in the first half of 2023.

 

Apple’s sweet-spot earbuds are now at their best price to date. Amazon is selling the third-generation AirPods at an all-time low of $140, or $29 off. That makes it an easy choice if you’re interested in perks like head-tracking spatial audio and wireless charging, but don’t need the active noise cancellation and snug fit of higher-end models.

The third-gen AirPods address many of the concerns you might have had about Apple’s mid-tier wireless buds in the past. They offer dramatically improved audio quality, with a more immersive sound, cleaner highs and consistent bass response. They’re more comfortable, and the six-hour battery life is long enough for a cross-country flight. And you might even prefer the more open design to that of the AirPods Pro — you won’t need a transparency mode to listen to a colleague.

These won’t be for everyone. You can use AirPods with Android and Windows devices, but they’re still best-suited to the Apple ecosystem. And while they’re sweat-resistant, you might not want to wear the third-gen models during vigorous workouts. At this price, however, they sit in a good middle ground and are more competitive with rivals’ earbuds.

Thankfully, you also have choices if you’re looking for discounts on Apple’s other models. The second-gen AirPods remain at $90 if you’re happy with no-frills audio and wired charging. The latest AirPods Pro, meanwhile, are still down to $230 if you want the company’s best in-ear listening experience. It’s just a question of your needs and budget.

Buy AirPods (2nd Gen) at Amazon – $90Buy AirPods Pro (2nd Gen) at Amazon – $230

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For most people, there’s no such thing as an essential Roomba if you can work your own vacuum cleaner. They’re nice to have, and do a job, but you’ll get better results if you can put the work in yourself. They also require more management than Rosie the Robot from The Jetsons or Red Dwarf’s Kryten. You’ll come to earth with a bump when you see this oversized hockey puck crashing itself into your baseboards, wondering where the future we were promised disappeared to. But, if you judge the new Combo J7+ on its own merits, it makes a far better case for itself than many of its rivals.

The Roomba Combo J7+ is iRobot’s first “true” two-in-one vacuum and mopping robot, doing both without intervention. There’s no need to add or remove a mop pad between missions, and none of the dreaded risk of cross-contamination. After all, if your two-in-one is infused with dirty water, it runs the risk of depositing its juices all over your freshly vacuumed carpets and rugs. That’s a first world problem, but one iRobot believes is a big impediment to people buying a premium floor-cleaning robot.

iRobot’s solution is to have the Combo J7+ hold its mop and pad on top of its chassis, only pulling it down when required. The machine’s sensors identify when it’s rolling over hardwood versus a carpet, and flips down the pad accordingly. It’s a fairly smart piece of engineering, and iRobot’s engineers deserve kudos for finding such an elegant solution. All you’ll need to do is fill the reservoir with water and some cleaning solution, and activate a mission from inside the iRobot app, choosing your dosage level (Eco, Standard or Ultra) before pressing start.

I’ve had the J7+ in my home for three weeks now, set up in my entrance hall, since the ground floor of my home is a mix of hardwood, laminate and rugs. My kids, who have to walk down a dirt track to get to school, love tracking mud and debris into my hallway upon their return. Plus, it means I can send it out after dinner to clean the kitchen floor to deal with the usual raft of child-created crumbs. Although more commonly, I choose to clean the floors during the mid-morning, when my kids can’t complain about the noise the Clean Base makes.

The J7+ is the first Roomba to ship with iRobot OS 5.0, which improves upon the company’s work to avoid dangerous hazards. (I don’t know if I can say “rolling into a pile of dog poop and smearing it all over your carpets” in a way that’s brand safe, so just use your own euphemism.) After each mission, you’ll be asked to review obstacles that the robot detected during the trip, letting it know if the pair of sneakers you left by the back door is a temporary or permanent fixture for the future. The big point, however, is for the camera’s computer vision to identify these hazards and avoid them without having to bump into them.

I will say, I did find the early mapping runs to be a little more frustrating than I may have expected. Part of this was because I had to tidy up everything after my kids before I could send the machine out for a run. And that it was outfoxed fairly regularly by both my welcome mat and the threshold between the hallway and the kitchen. I wish, really, there was a way I could use my phone – with its boat-load of location-aware tech – to help build the map. For instance, I’d be happy to trace a rough outline of the ground floor of my home with my phone using dead reckoning, which you’d think would help speed up the process.

To be fair, this power has grown exponentially over the period of time I’ve had the Roomba in my home. A few days ago, the system asked if I wanted to craft a dedicated cleaning zone around the kitchen table, without any prompting from me whatsoever. That’s obviously a great way to spot-target areas of dirt buildup without having to do the whole kitchen floor every night, too. Credit where due, the Roomba has picked up a good sense of where everything is in my house, and where it needs to direct its energies.

The machine does a great job removing small, loose particles from the floor, but it’s still leaving the odd outlier. Not to mention that, despite a lot of promises to not need much micromanagement, you’ll be filling the Roomba’s water reservoir very frequently. The container can take a fairly piddly 210 ml (around 7 ounces) of water, good enough for 40 square meters (430 square feet) of floor on high dose, enough just about for my modest, British ground floor. But if you’re in a McMansion with floors the length and breadth of a football field, you might need to refill the Roomba in the middle of a job.

In the US, the J7+ ships with the clean base, which will set you back $1,099.99 – a fairly massive chunk of change. Elsewhere, you can pick it up base-free, but if you’re buying a Roomba for the convenience, the base makes plenty of sense. The base is not only where your machine will charge itself, but it has its own vacuum that sucks out any debris that the Roomba picks up and deposits it inside its own bag. If I have a complaint, it’s that I wish the Roomba itself had some of the power of the Clean Base’s own suction, which is about as powerful (and noisy) as a jet engine. I also wish there was a way to disable this feature.

There are parts of iRobot’s sales pitch that leave me almost petulantly shrugging in hostile indifference. Like being able to order your Roomba to clean a specific high-traffic zone by barking a command to your home’s voice assistant of choice. I think using a voice assistant became passé after the third time you tried to impress your neighbors by changing the color of your living room lights in 2013. Yes, for older people, and those with accessibility needs, a good voice assistant connection is vital, but it’s also something that leaves me cold. Especially when it’s a lot easier to just activate a mission from the app, which is beautifully simple to do.

But, despite my objections, I have found this gizmo worming its way into my regular routine more than I ever expected. It’s actually a pleasure to walk back from the school run, see a pile of dirt on the floor and be able to magic it away with the press of a button. And setting it up to mop the floor as well, means that the number times I have to clean it myself has dropped massively. It may not replace your vacuum cleaner, or your mop, but it will mean you don’t have to use them anywhere near as frequently as you normally do.

 

Google is introducing a host of new features across its services. Starting with Maps, the company said on Thursday that it would begin rolling out its long-awaited Search with Live View functionality. As the name suggests, the feature adds a search bar to the app’s augmented reality layer, making it easier to find and make your way to places like ATMs, restrooms and restaurants. Starting next week, the feature will begin rolling out in London, LA, New York, San Francisco and Tokyo.

At the same time, Google is adding a new wheelchair icon to Maps to identify places with accessible entrances. Lastly, Maps now includes new filters designed to help you find EV charging stations with fast-charging plugs and ones with plugs that are compatible with your car. As of today, both features are available globally.

Search is receiving a number of improvements as well. To start, Google is making Lens more robust. If you see a photo of some food you want to try but don’t know what it’s called or where to find a restaurant that makes it in your local area, a new feature the company has dubbed “multisearch near me” will point you in the right direction. All you need to do is snap a photo of the dish you want to try (a screenshot works too if you find an image online) and type “near me” in the search field to find a place that sells it. You can also search for specific dishes at restaurants to find out more information about pricing and ingredients. With today’s launch, the two features are only available to English speakers in the US.

Speaking of Lens, Google will upgrade the feature’s translate functionality later this year. Once the update arrives, Lens will use an AI algorithm to erase the original text of a sign and generate new pixels underneath before overlaying the translation on top. The feature should help with readability.

On the shopping front, Google is adding new augmented reality features. The first is a library of 150 models representing different skin tones, ages, genders, face shapes and skin types, an addition the company says will help users accurately test over 2,000 foundation shades from a variety of brands. The company is also adding a new AR experience for sneakers that allows you to view kicks from Saucony, Vans and Merrell. Both features will start rolling out in the US today.

 

Everyone needs a hobby, right? And chances are you know at least one person on your holiday shopping list who fancies themselves a musician. Whether they’re a casual guitarist, a former piano prodigy or a bedroom producer of electronic music we’ve got some recommendations. Some of these even make a great gift for music lovers who haven’t quite made the jump yet. Perhaps getting a synthesizer tinker toy will inspire your loved one to go from a consumer to a maker.

Soma Laboratory Ether

If you know someone who believes there’s music all around, if you can just train yourself to listen for it, I have the perfect gift for them. The Soma Labs Ether is sort of like a microphone. But not one that you sing into. Instead, it picks up electromagnetic interference and radiation from across the entire spectrum from Hertz to Gigahertz. Soma likes to refer to it as an anti-radio since it doesn’t tune into one frequency, it tunes into all the frequencies. With the Ether your sound-loving giftee can eavesdrop on neon signs and sample the silent whine of an AC adapter. It’s literally a gateway to an invisible world of electromagnetic waves. And the particularly adventurous can even wield it as a live instrument.

Buy Ether at Soma – $160

Cre8audio West Pest

Modular synthesis has been enjoying a revival over the past few years. But getting into Eurorack can be intimidating and very expensive. So a number of companies have been working to lower the barrier to entry. If there’s someone on your list that has been itching to dip their toes in, the West Pest and East Beast from Cre8audio are an excellent starting point. They’re self-contained semi-modular synths, so they don’t need any extra gear to start experimenting. But they’re Eurorack compatible, and can be removed from their cases and mounted in a larger system if they wind up going deeper down that rabbit hole.

We like the West Pest in particular because, in addition to being perhaps the most affordable Eurorack compatible semi-modular synth out there, it explores the more experimental world of west coast synthesis. As the music gear experts at Reverb note “the combination of Wavefolding with the Dynamics Controller (a take on the low-pass gate) gives the synth its bold, unique and adventurous sound.”

Buy West Pest at Amazon – $250

Sony MDR-7506

Every music lover and music maker needs a good pair of headphones. There are so many amazing sets out there to choose from, but I remain a dedicated fan of Sony’s affordable workhorse the MDR-7506. They’ve been a studio mainstay for decades for good reason. They’re natural sounding, light and comfortable enough to wear for hours, and reasonably priced. The MDR-7506s are equally at home monitoring a podcast, mixing a club banger or just listening to some vinyl. In short, they’re a great practical gift even if you’re operating under a tight budget.

Buy Sony MDR-7506 at Amazon – $100

Artiphon Orba 2

The original Orba is a phenomenal fidget toy and an interesting MIDI controller. The Orba 2 is both those things and a sampler. Adding sampling to this little musical grapefruit greatly expands its flexibility. If you know someone who’s constantly tapping out rhythms or humming little melodies to themselves, they’ll probably love an Orba.

Buy Orba 2 at Artiphon – $150

Roland E-4 Voice Tweaker

Cheap and portable synths are a dime a dozen these days. Korg really kicked off something of revolution with its Volca line. But one thing we’d yet to see until Roland launched its Aira Compact line, was a portable and affordable box dedicated to vocal effects. The E-4 Voice Tweaker combines pitch correction, a harmonizer, a vocoder, plus pitch and formant shifting, and a looper. There’s also delay, reverb and chorus effects, not to mention Roland’s signature Scatter, which it turns out is much better on vocals than drums. If there’s anyone on your list who’s been trying to turn themselves into the next Bon Iver or late ‘70s Herbie Hancock, this will at least get them part of the way there.

Buy E-4 Voice Tweaker at Amazon – $200

Chase Bliss Habit

Where to begin with the Habit? It’s a delay pedal – which almost every musician can use. But it’s so much more. It’s a looper, sort of. Chase Bliss calls it a musical sketchpad, and that can be true too. It does all of those things, plus it has a selection of unique modifiers that can chop up sounds in rhythmic ways, mimic the warble of a tape machine, or spit out what can only be described as unicorn sparkles. In short, there’s almost nothing else like it out there. If there’s a guitarist or a synth player on your list with a taste for the esoteric (and you don’t mind splurging), they’ll probably love the strange collection of sounds that Habit puts at their feet.

Buy Chase Bliss Habit at Reverb – $399

1010 Music Lemon Drop

The 1010Music Nanoboxes are probably the smallest full-featured hardware synths out there. But the Lemon Drop also has the distinction of being one of the only dedicated granular synths on the market. If your giftee is into ambient music or oddball textures they will almost certainly love the Lemon Drop. It has a robust granular sound engine (meaning it chops up sound files into tiny bits and spits them back out) with up to 16 granulators per voice and four voice polyphony. Plus it doubles as an effects processor for live audio with an expressive X/Y pad mode for changing parameters. And it can easily fit in a jacket pocket.

Buy Lemon Drop at 1010 Music – $399

Moog Mavis

The Mavis is the cheapest way to give someone the gift of a real-deal Moog synthesizer. It’s a $350, pseudo-DIY, semi-modular, monophonic synth and, in a rarity for the company, it’s fully Eurorack compatible. It’s capable of getting that classic Moog sound with thick square and saw waves shaped by resonant lowpass filter. Its 24-point patchbay is an impressive collection of utility and sound-shaping tools that is not only great for learning the art of synthesis but also expanding the potential of a larger modular setup. Lastly, the Mavis is the first time Moog has dipped its toes into the rival world of West Coast synthesis by including a wavefolder. It’s a great gift whether it’s someone’s first synth of fiftieth.

Buy Moog Mavis at Amazon – $349

Rainger FX Minibar Liquid Analyser Pedal

Part of the fun of holiday shopping is finding fun weird things that you know someone would appreciate, but are so impractical they’d never buy it themselves. That’s basically the Rainger FX Minibar in a nutshell. It’s a distortion pedal, and also an endless supply of different distortion pedals. See, on its own it doesn’t do anything. The “Liquid Analyzer” part of the name comes from the fact that there’s a tiny container on top that you need to fill to complete the circuit. And, the sound will change based on what you put in there. Water will have an obviously different effect than say, beer, or soda, or – if you’re metal enough – blood. The folks at Reverb love it because “the Minibar is easy to incorporate into musicians’ small pedalboards… meaning folks can experiment without too much of a space commitment.”

Buy Rainger FX Minibar at Reverb – $149

Universal Audio Ruby ’63

I firmly believe that every guitarist should have an amp sim in their arsenal. They’re handy for quietly practicing late at night, recording direct to a DAW, or building a lightweight live rig that connects to a venue’s PA. Universal Audio’s are among the best amp sims I’ve ever used. They’re not cheap at $400, but if there’s a person on your list you want to splurge on, these are a worthy consideration. While all three of the models are excellent, and my personal favorite seems to change from week to week, it’s probably the Ruby ‘63 Top Boost that has spent the most time on my board.

The Ruby is an emulation of the classic Vox AC30 which has been used by everyone from the Beatles, to U2, to REM, to Queen. Reverb’s experts love that it “delivers choirboy cleans, complex overdrive, and classic vibrato to mimic a classic British tube amp.” Plus you can tweak the Ruby’s sound by turning on popular mods or switching in different speaker emulations.

Buy Ruby at Reverb – $399

Pure Magnetic Century Collection

The Century Collection is another splurge, but it’s the gift that keeps on giving. For $400 your giftee will receive every sample pack, virtual instrument and effect plugin that Pure Magnetic makes for the next 100 years. On day one they’ll get access to around 100 sample packs covering everything from vintage synth pads, to circuit bent toys, to early digital drum machines.

But perhaps even more interesting are the 39 VST plugins that range from lo-fi keys to absolutely out of this world effects. The creative delays and strange micro loopers are highlights and perfect for the person who’s into more ambient and experimental music. Then there’s Lore, an “advanced sound design workstation” that’s updated on a monthly basis with new features and effects. Even if someone manages to outlive the length of their Century Collection membership, they’ll probably never be able to fully explore it all.

Buy Century Collection at Pure Magnetic – $399

Oblique Strategies

Anyone who practices some sort of creative art – be it music, painting or writing – hits a block at some point. There’s tons of advice out there on how to overcome these hurdles, but one of the most famous is easily the Oblique Strategies deck. Developed by Peter Schmidt and Brian Eno in 1975, each card contains an action or a way of thinking designed to shake up your approach to a thorny creative problem. “Use an unacceptable colour,” “Make a sudden, destructive unpredictable action; incorporate” and “Emphasize the flaws,” are the sorts of vague instructions you can expect. And how someone interprets the prompts will produce different results for each person. If you’re shopping for anyone with a creative streak, they’ll find a use for this deck.

Buy Oblique Strategies at Eno Shop – $60

Dilla Time

If you’re gift shopping for a music producer I can almost guarantee you they’re fans of J Dilla. He was a singular force in hip-hop, and has even had his MPC displayed at the Smithsonian. Dilla Time by Dan Charnas chronicles not just the life of Dilla (James DeWitt Yancey), but his legacy and the history of rhythm in America. In addition, there are graphics that help illustrate the concepts behind Dilla’s unique beats and what made him so special. It’s part biography, part history lesson and part practical music production guide.

Buy Dilla Time at Amazon – $22

How to Write One Song

If there’s an aspiring songwriter on your list, consider picking them up a copy of How to Write One Song. Written by Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, this tome breaks down the process from beginning to end and encourages readers to start small; don’t try to become a “songwriter” just try to write a song. But this isn’t a rote how-to book, that sort of thing is only so helpful when it comes to mastering an artistic craft. It’s about building creativity into your everyday life. And just like any other skill, being creative requires practice.

Buy How to Write One Song at Amazon – $19

Audio Technica AT-LP120XUSB

A turntable is almost a necessity for any music lover or music maker. For one, it’s a way to listen to the artists they love. Whether that’s for pure enjoyment or for inspiration. And while there are plenty who think that vinyl just “sounds better,” I think the real reason it beats out streaming from Spotify: It’s tangible. There’s nothing quite like physically holding a piece of music, placing the needle in a groove and looking at the large cover art, or reading the liner notes. It connects a person to the art more and forces them to be a more active participant in its consumption.

Now, the AT-LP120XUSB is not the highest-end turntable in the world. And it might not even be the best bang for your gift-giving dollar. But it is excellent sounding and reasonably priced. And the USB port makes it easy for any aspiring music producers to sample straight to their DAW. Maybe, just maybe, it will inspire a life-long love of crate digging.

Buy AT-LP120XUSB turntable at Amazon – $349