As with other holidays, some of the best gifts are things that will last a while, so the person will frequently be reminded of your thoughtfulness (as opposed to flowers, which die quickly and are just as swiftly forgotten). To that end,
MacNN Editor Charles Martin and
One More Thing podcast co-host Malcolm Owen have come up with a few items that we think will create a lasting impression, and prove useful all year long -- arranged in no particular order, but covering a wide range of budgets. We've tested most of these, and some have been received as gifts, and they are all still much appreciated.
The first is
a battery pack (or case with a battery) for one's iPhone. A combination of energy-sucking but useful services like "Hey Siri" and TV channels available on iPhones have made short work of the threats of boredom or unproductive downtime, but battery capability hasn't kept up, so these days someone who is taking full advantage of their smartphones can often find it perilously close to empty by the end of the day, or perhaps earlier. To that end, a battery pack can be a lifesaver.
Anker, Lumsing, and Unu battery packs
The one Charles finds he uses most is a long, weighty Anker model, the
PowerCore 20100 ($39) -- enough for multiple recharges of the iPhone 6s and even the iPad Air 2. He has also used it for other electronics, like the
UE Megaboom speaker ($250, also a useful gift idea). He finds it most useful for travel, but he has also used it in the car to "top up." Charles' wife uses a smaller, 13,400mAh
Lumsing Grand A1 Plus model ($24) for her iPhone and older Kindle device. Both of the chargers have dual USB ports and protective circuits to prevent overcharging, while charging the devices as fast as the devices will safely allow.
There are models that are much smaller and lighter than these two -- they can be the size of lipsticks, but of course those don't offer a full charge. They're still useful to extend a device's daily life, however, and battery packs generally can be had very reasonably. There are also battery packs incorporated into smartphone cases, which disguises the bulk a bit better and offer up to an entire full recharge without adding too much weight.
(L to R) Apple Battery Case, Mophie Juice Pack
Stick one in your daily bag or your luggage if you're traveling -- sometimes, even when you theoretically have access to plugs, it can be difficult to get to them, so the battery packs are still useful even if you're not, say, camping. We love having a fully-charged smartphone when we get off the plane or out of the car, and a battery pack or battery case (like those from
Apple for $99 or
Mophie for $89) make staying charged easy.
If you have decided not to take your loved one out to a fancy restaurant in favor of cooking a meal at home on Valentine's Day, you'll need help getting the ambience just right. The
Philips Hue A19 Starter Kit ($195) can be used to set the lights down to a dimmer, more romantic level, illuminating the room in a red hue for maximum effect.
For the sound, get hold of the
Sonos Play:1 Compact Smart Speaker ($195), and set your chosen streaming music service to go through a love song playlist, or a Barry White album to set the mood of your evening just right.
Jump onto the recent online bandwagon of "Netflix and Chill" by staying in and watching a romantic movie. There are many streaming-capable set-top boxes on the market that you can easily pick up at a variety of different price points, including the
fourth-gen Apple TV from $150, Google's
Chromecast for $35, and as low as $32 for a
refurbished Roku Streaming Stick. Netflix sold separately, as they say, but there is a free trial available instantly upon signing up.
Another great gift for couples of all sorts are things you can share together, and one great suggestion is a
subscription to Apple Music. A family subscription of up to six accounts costs $15 per month (total, not each!), but be aware that what distinguishes a family subscription from an individual one is that only one person can pay for the family accounts. Other than that, however, the accounts can be completely different, with sharing available but entirely different "For You" recommendations and tastes.
The great thing about any streaming service is that it affords you access to an enormous library of music for a reasonable monthly cost, and the entire library -- millions of songs -- is available on all your devices. With Apple Music, this includes both iOS and Android, and is available nearly worldwide -- more countries, in fact, than its rival Spotify. For people who live outside of the US, it is great that many of the features Americans enjoyed that didn't make it to most other countries are now available no matter where you go, and the library offered from Apple (as well as the integration with iTunes in the Cloud and local music library) means users can listen to what they want all out of one app (well, two -- Music on iOS, and iTunes on the Mac).
A great place to keep that battery pack we mentioned earlier -- and all the other tech gear you may wish to carry around, either daily or on trips -- is in a messenger bag or "gadget tote." Our colleague William has
written glowingly about the Knomo line of leather products, and they unquestionably make great, useful, long-lasting gifts.
Knomo Kinsale Messenger bag
For men, our present pick is the
Kinsale Soft Leather Messenger Bag ($250 with free shipping in the US), as it's well-suited to both the gallivanting lifestyle and a 13-inch MacBook Pro or other notebook, and the assorted gear that we like to take with it (which can range from just a cord to various adapters, Bluetooth stuff, and even an iPad). For women, the
Vigo Women's Slim Top Zip Tote ($350) has that extra room that she often needs, holds up to 14-inch notebook, and there's room for nearly everything one needs for a trip in there. It's much deeper than the Messenger bag, but also features that soft leather exterior with a soft, padded interior.
Vigo Leather Tote
When both you and your significant other are gamers, one of the easiest ways to spend time together is simply to play the same game. There are a number of different bundles available for the
Sony PlayStation 4 ($349) that you can choose from, and all you have to do is to pick up a second controller, get hold of some games that can be played at the same time, and to come up with some witty one-liner such as "you are my Destiny" or "the couple that slays together, stays together" to make it work. We're also fond of "Halo, I love you, won't you tell me your name." Okay, possibly that last one won't go over terribly well.
Finally, the most expensive choice we have is a set of
Apple Watches (or one for your partner if you already have one, starting at $350). Sure, there's a feature where you can send animated drawings and special emoji to each other (including the possibly-romantic, possibly-creepy live heartbeat), but that's not why couples should get it; it's because both of you deserve the handy messaging and status monitoring, the voice-powered abilities, the fitness and heart rate monitoring, and the overall usefulness of the thing.
To many, it will seem a novelty at first; but what's insidious about the Apple Watch is how quickly and easily it becomes a part of your life -- and one you don't want to give up. Charles credits the Watch with making him much more conscious of his health on a day-to-day-basis (rather than just when one is sick or at the doctor's office), getting him to use Siri more extensively and enjoyably, and his biggest addiction is paying for things on it -- mostly using Apple Pay, but also the Starbucks app will put that little code strip they use on the Watch face that can be scanned. He is looking forward to repeating that trick with an airline boarding pass soon.
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