Stuck for a present for your friend, family member or work colleague? Here’s a tip — do they like music or TV or movies? Do they have a smartphone or a tablet? Problem solved. Here are five easy Christmas gifts to get the streaming music or movies lover in your life.
In partnership with the Toshiba Radius 12 — where every feature is its best — Gizmodo’s Gift Guides will help you pick the best present for your loved one.
Google Chromecast, $49
Google’s Chromecast is a great, affordable gift for the YouTube lover or streaming movie and TV fanatic; it’s a $49 dongle that plugs into your TV and connects to your Wi-Fi, then streams video from any compatible phone, tablet or laptop using the Chrome browser.
You can buy the Chromecast at dozens of different stores around Australia including JB Hi-Fi, Dick Smith, and Harvey Norman. You’ll pay under $50 for one at RRP, but you mind also find one cheaper if you do a little bit of shopping around.
Ultimate Ears UE Boom 2 Speaker, $249
The UE Boom 2 is the newest and best speaker from Ultimate Ears’ party division, and it’s the best for good reason; it’s waterproof, plays over Bluetooth for 15 hours and blasts out clear, musical sound across a 360-degree span. Plus you can buy one in a range of funky colours.
You can buy the UE Boom 2 at Ultimate Ears’ website, or at a bunch of electronics stores like JB Hi-Fi, Dick Smith and Harvey Norman. Its RRP is $249, but we’ve seen them for sub-$190.
Spotify Gift Card, from $36
Spotify is the music streaming service du jour — it’s the one that everyone seems to be using right now. With tens of millions of songs and curated playlists of the latest and most popular music, it’s the easiest way to start listening to pretty much any track or album you might want to. It works over a huge range of devices including iOS and Android smartphones and tablets, too.
Giving someone a gift card may seem lame, but when it’s for a streaming service it becomes a tangible, useful present. You can buy Spotify gift subscriptions from the website, but a physical gift is always better and that means picking up a $36 or $72, 3- or 6-month subscription card at Big W, Woolworths or 7/11.
Bose SoundLink Mini II Speaker, $299
Bose’s SoundLink Mini II is a different kettle of fish to the UE Boom 2; it’s sleeker, sounds louder and more musical, but it’s not waterproof. You make a little trade-off in durability for a bunch of style, but you also get that trademark Bose sound quality, as well as excellent Bluetooth connectivity, integrated voice prompts and a bundled wireless charging dock.
The Bose SoundLink Mini II, in black Carbon or silver Pearl, can be bought directly from Bose for $299, but you might find it a bit cheaper online or at a bricks-and-mortar electronics store like JB Hi-Fi or Myer.
Netflix Gift Card, from $20
Everyone knows Netflix. We’ve been blessed with its holy presence for eight months now, and it’s only gotten better since launch; dozens of Netflix Original TV series and one-off specials, as well as a pretty damn decent range of new-release and older TV shows and movies. Netflix has put a lot of effort into working seamlessly on mobile, tablet, desktop and laptop PCs as well as through a bunch of different games consoles and smart TVs.
You can order up a Netflix subscription online as long as you have a credit card, but then there’s no physical gift to give. A Netflix gift card is a present that you know is going to good use; you can buy them in $20, $30 and $50 denominations in real life in a wide range of retailers including 7/11, Coles and Woolworths.
In partnership with the Toshiba Radius 12
Questions, comments, tips? You can find me on Twitter at @csimps0n.