The 10 best geek accessories money can buy
From the Raspberry Pi to drones and Star Wars' own BB-8, we've collated the best geeky toys every tech-head should own
RASPBERRY PI 3
There are a lot of circuit board computers around these days. Some are only really meant for IoT devs. Others are Raspberry Pi copies, to put it bluntly. No other circuit board computer touches what the Pi offers as a package. The amazing-value hardware, the mountains of online support and the sheer wealth of other people’s projects you can try without having to think too hard mean it has red-hot appeal. It’s not impenetrable, and functions far better than any Android-running alternative I’ve tried. It’s also a much more viable micro productivity PC than the Pi 2. Is it a bit slow still? Yes, but the Pi 3’s performance increase is pretty massive. More power, more convenience. What more do you want?
DJI PHANTOM 4
DJI really has pulled off something special with the Phantom 4. Other companies might have been happy to bump up the flight time and add a few visual tweaks, but the Phantom 4 is not so much an upgrade as an evolutionary leap. The world of drones can be an intimidating one, but what DJI has done here is to create a quadcopter that anyone really can fly – and do it safely. Expect to see a lot more of these in the sky soon.
AMAZON KINDLE OASIS
If you’re looking to get an e-reader for your summer holidays, then the Paperwhite will do just fine. It has a great screen and backlighting like the Oasis, and it costs less than half the price of this brand new Kindle. That said, don’t come crying to me if Charles and Diana on the poolside sunloungers opposite turn you as green as the mint in your mojito. Why? Because they’ll be reading the latest trashy thriller on their Oasis, instead of the peasantry’s e-reader of choice. Buying an Oasis is the decadent option after all and, while that Maybach remains out of reach for all but Britain’s landed gentry and possibly Skepta, it never hurts to show your class.
YUNEEC TYPHOON H
On its own terms, the Typhoon H is a fantastic hexacopter that nails everything you’d expect from a camera drone: it’s easy to fly; has a lengthy flight time; takes great footage and photos; and folds up to a (reasonably) portable size. A really classy product, in other words. It’s got a few advantages over the Phantom 4, too: landing gear that folds up out of the way is potentially a godsend, as is the dual-operator option for serious filming. However, the whole thing is just a bit hamstrung by the two-hour battery charging time, which is comfortably trounced by rivals from DJI. Sort that out, and the Typhoon H would be the Yuneec model we’d recommend over a Phantom 4.
DJI OSMO
While its imaging performance with the Zenmuse X3 camera isn’t flawless, the Osmo’s really in a category of its own at the moment; there’s no comparable stabilised camera on the market, and to get similar functionality with a DSLR or CSC you’d end up spending far more money on not only the camera but on stabilisation tech. The Osmo is a self-contained package (although I’d suggest you buy the tripod to expand the functionality a bit), and for its price it can’t currently be beaten.
KINDLE PAPERWHITE (2015)
For the non-converts, the Paperwhite is the middle point in the Amazon Kindle ereader line-up. It has a backlight (unlike the cheapo budget Kindle), but doesn’t have more advanced, experimental things such as the adaptive light or PagePress sensitive buttons of the Kindle Voyage. For most people, the Paperwhite is the best balance between quality of experience and price.
SPHERO BB-8 DROID WITH FORCE BAND
Everything about this special edition BB-8 is well thought-out, from the extra paint details, to the matching Force Band, to the app’s cutesy animations and added-value item hunts. It’s not quite the same as being encased in carbonite, but the chunky metal collector’s tin is also a pretty tasty addition. You can throw BB-8 inside and take him on the move, without worrying if his head’s going to pop off in your bag. That’ll keep those fragile antennas intact, too. All the modes, tricks and app magic from the original are present and correct, so you can leave it to wander your house automatically, or record augmented reality messages just like in the movies. Throw in the Holocron effects boards and you’ve got a must-own toy for any Star Wars fan.
AMAZON ECHO
At its most basic, Echo is essentially a reboot of the kitchen radio for the 21st century. Instead of waiting for news reports to arrive on the hour, you can get a quick briefing from the Guardian or BBC Radio 4 whenever you ask for it. The hyperlocal weather forecast summaries are great, too. Smooth, sleek, and with only the tiniest of Amazon logos, Echo’s industrial look is as inconspicuous as a tube of high-tech kitchen roll. That’s the idea, really: it should lurk on a table or countertop, listening to everything anyone says without becoming the centre of attention. Not sinister at all, right?
RAZOR CRAZY CART SHIFT
Razor’s last Crazy Cart had a handbrake you could yank to throw the back out, but for kids that haven’t even reached double digits yet, it was a little complicated. That’s why the Shift takes a different approach. With a single, freely-rotating wheel at the front, which you can spin in either direction for some serious sideways action, the Shift is literally child’s play to drift. I’ve been running laps of the Stuff office car park every lunchtime since it turned up. So yeah, it’s a lot of fun.
3DOODLER CREATE+
Some gadgets just slap a big ol’ grin on your face. 2013’s 3Doodler was one such device, even if our artistic prowess leaves a lot to be desired (let’s just say Big Ben didn’t look quite so iconic once we’d finished with it). The original product has been been tweaked numerous times since then, but the latest iteration sounds like the biggest upgrade to date. The 3Doodler Create+ employs what its maker calls the first dual drive system in any 3D printer. Not only does this mean you can draw with more plastics, but it should also lead to fewer jams interrupting the creation of your 3D masterpiece.
