9 awesome gadgets and gift ideas for mom this Mother’s Day

Sunday 8 May 2016. It’s the day that we’ll honour the most important people in our lives — our mothers. Yep, it’s Mothers Day, and what better way to celebrate their existence than to get them something extremely geeky and cool?

Here at Gearburn, we’ve been known to find the odd and pretty cool geeky gift from time to time, so if you’re in need of some ideas, be it genuine possibilities or mere inspiration, take a look at our last minute techie Mothers Day gifts below.

TomTom Go500

Getting lost in South Africa is pretty easy, but as the Jimmy Carr quip often goes, “where would we be without satnav?” The TomTom Go500 is a lightweight, 5.0-inch touchscreen-navigable GPS, with two hours of battery operation, and 8GB of internal storage. It should be more than enough for the average inner city runabout and also notifies users about traffic congestion if need be.

Price: R2585 (Raru)

Houdt smartphone covers

If your mom loves the natural world but rocks a smartphone, a cover from Houdt might just be perfect. The Cape Town-based company, as the name suggest, crafts a number of interesting accessories from good ol’ wood. The company crafts covers for Samsung, Apple and Huawei devices, and uses a number of different woods, from maple to bamboo.

Price: ranging from R399 to R599 (Houdt.co.za)

Fitbit Alta

The Fitbit Alta is the most aesthetically pleasing band in the company’s extensive range. Boasting all the step, sleep and calorie burning trackers of its contemporaries, the Alta is geared towards those who want a fashionable centrepiece as well as the health benefits. It comes in a range of colours and also connects to the Fitbit app, so mom can know when to enjoy some R&R or hit Lion’s Head for an afternoon hike

Price: R2499 (iStore)

Romoss GT Series GT1 10000mAh powerbank

Modern smartphones’ batteries don’t last all that long, so it’s always a good idea to have a powerbank in your bag, purse or back pocket as a power backup. This little example from Romoss is perfect for mom, especially if she enjoys shades of pink (there’s also a silver option).  It boasts a 10 000mAh capacity, which is more than enough to charge most smartphones about three times over. It also comes with two charging output ports, which is always a great bonus.

Price: R404 (Raru)

Minion Tim USB drive

Okay, so who doesn’t like the Minions? These banana-loving, dungaree-clad yellow entities are pretty darn cute, and this particular example will let mom keep her important files on it for emergency use. USB flash drives are always great gifts if all else fails, even if beheading this particular Minion is the only way to get at the USB port itself. Sheesh.

Price: R275 (Superbalist)

A Netflix or ShowMax subscription

Here’s an alternative idea. If your mom happens to have the necessary (a smart TV, PC, smartphone or tablet and an internet connection), why not pay for a streaming video service? Both Netflix and ShowMax offer great shows between them, although some are exclusive to each. Ask mom, find out what shows she enjoys watching, and then get the respective service.

Price: both ShowMax and Netflix subscriptions are under R150 per month, but require a preexisting internet connection

Kitchen Craft Electric Kitchen Scale

If there’s one place technology’s making life a lot better for all, it’s the kitchen. If mom enjoys baking and cooking up storms, a kitchen scale will be one of those essential tools she’ll use every day. Why not upgrade her wares while injecting some colourful style? The Kitchen Craft range of funky digital scales boasts a doughnut shape, LED readout, and a tolerance of up to 5kg for rather large cakes.

Price: R469 (Yuppiechef)

Nintendo 2DS

No, gaming isn’t just for kids. The Nintendo 2DS is a pretty cute and effective way of passing time playing the likes of Super Mario Bros., the Kirby series and Tetris if all else fails. It’s a great pocket accessory, is lightweight, and there’s no doubt that your mom will absolutely love the colour options, ranging from white, to pink, to translucent hues shown above.

Price: have a look at our full Nintendo 3DS/2DS price comparisons for South Africa here

Nescafe Dolce Gusto

Coffee is the most essential meal of the morning (we’d argue), and if coffee is mom’s cup of tea the Nescafe capsule system will allow her to make quick and simple recipes without much hassle. Yes, the machine is a bit pricey, and so are the capsules that it uses, but it’s probably one of the most convenient, trouble-free systems known to humankind.

Price: R1499 (Takealot)