As the holiday season is approaching fast, I wanted to share my recommendations for the year. I am still using the monitor, TV, sound bar, notebook computer, chair, streaming setup, and drone from my 2022 and 2023 guides. I also rarely upgrade my iPhone, not more than once every 3-4 years. I wait until I break it after one too many drops to switch to the new one. As such, this year will be more gadget oriented than day-to-day gear.

Headphone: SteelSeries Arctis Nova 5 Wireless

I realize I recommended the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro last year, but I prefer the Arctis Nova 5 Wireless. They are a third of the price, currently at $79 on Amazon. They are more compact and easier to travel with. The USB-C adapter makes it easier to connect to devices using the preferred 2.4Ghz mode. I find that the switchover from Bluetooth to 2.4Ghz also works better than on the Nova Pro.

In addition, they have 60 hours of battery life and can fast-charge. Most importantly for important Zoom calls, they have an amazing noise canceling microphone. Most headphones are noise canceling so you do not hear your environment. However, very few have noise-cancelling microphones so you cannot take calls in noisy environments like airports. With this microphone you can be in the noisiest environment and your counterparties would not hear anything.

Webcam: Logitech MX Brio

There had not been much innovation in the webcam space, and I had not upgraded in years. The Logitech MX Brio is the first 4K webcam I can recommend. It’s not perfect as it only does 30 fps in 4K, but I love the quality both at 60 fps in 1080p and 30 fps in 4K.

Underwater Scooter: Subnadoo Lite

I love SeaBobs, but they are way too expensive. Given that kids are using them 95% of the time in the pool the Subnadoo Lite are more than good enough. At $399, they are an incredible deal. They are sturdier than all the other underwater scooters I tried which kept breaking after a few days of intense use by unruly kids. At 1.4 m/s, they are quick enough. My only gripe is that I don’t love the way you switch between the three gears. A selector would be simpler, but I can live with it.

They are probably Fafa’s favorite toy. He spends hours swimming with them in the pool, and he does not even know how to swim properly yet!

eFoil: Lift 4 with Blowfish

I rode Lift 2 for the longest time. The issue is that I had to take a big enough board and big enough wing to be beginner friendly, but not so big that it would not be fun to ride for a more advanced rider. As a result, I ended up with a setup that was a mediocre compromise: too difficult for beginners, but too boring for advanced riders.

I had heard great things about Lift competitors like Fliteboard and was most likely going to change until Lift released the Lift 4 with the Blowfish.

The Blowfish is genius. It allows you to get a smaller board that will be fun once you know how to ride well. In the meantime, it makes it significantly less painful to learn to eFoil. I use it to ride with Fafa and he loves it!

The specific model I got is the following:

• 4’9 Lift 4 with Blowfish
• 210 Camber Pro Font Wing
• 36 Glide Back Wing
• 32” LCS FRP Propulsion High Modulus Carbon
• 8P Light Battery

Game: Space Marine 2

As many of you know I am a fan of third-person shooters and action-adventure games like Drake Uncharted and The Last of Us. My favorite subset of that are co-op games like Gears of War that I can play with friends.

Earlier in the year, I played Helldivers II extensively with William, my brother and his wife. We had a blast killing Terminids and Automatons as a team. The ingeniously implemented friendly fire mechanic was a source of endless hilarity and deeper cooperation. However, we got tired of it once we reached higher levels. The missions started to feel repetitive, and we started resenting the lack of a proper campaign and story.

Enter Space Marine II. It’s gorgeous. It has very fluid and involved melee action. The sense of scale is tremendous, both in terms of your enemy and the world around you. Being part of the Warhammer universe it has excellent worldbuilding. Co-op operations feel important and are enhanced by the varied class system.

My only gripe is that it’s 3-person co-op rather than 4, so we had to ditch William for this mission. Note that it looks and plays better on the Xbox X than the PS5 making it once of the few games for which this is true. I would not recommend switching for this as it’s marginal, but if you have both, this one is best played on the Xbox X.

eReader: Kindle Paperwhite or Colorsoft

I recently stepped on my trusted Kindle Oasis and broke the screen. It was time to upgrade. By sheer coincidence, Amazon just then released its refreshed Kindle lines. They really leveled up.

The Papwerwhite is 7”, larger than prior models. It’s much faster, has higher contrast and is waterproof. At $129, it’s a great deal.

The Kindle Colorsoft is Amazon’s first color Kindle. It’s great for cover art and graphic novels. It’s reasonably fast, fully waterproof and I love the wireless charging. It’s rather expensive and I don’t love that the resolution is only 150 ppi in color, but it’s still 300 ppi in black and white so it’s the same experience as a Papwerhite.

I went with the Colorsoft because of the novelty and because I read graphic novels and am not price sensitive, but either is a great choice.

Grippers: Versa Gripps Xtreme

Despite all the tennis and padel I play, I’ve never had tennis elbow. However, since I started lifting, I’ve started to feel both tennis and golfer’s elbow which kept getting worse until I had to stop playing entirely a few months ago. I did PRP and am doing intense rehab, hoping to get back on the court soon. To prevent it from happening again, I started using the Versa Gripps Xtreme when I lift. I suspect that if I had used grippers to begin with, I would not have gotten such a bad tendinitis. The reason I did not is that I found all the grippers I used uncomfortable with heavy weights. Versa does not use a metal hook, and I find them much more comfortable. A must for anyone who lifts.

Dog Collar: Halo Collar 4

I travel with Angel globally and wanted to be able to find her if I ever lost her. There are a number of tracking collars in the market, but I picked the Halo 4 because it has the most extensive coverage: Wi-Fi, cellular, and Bluetooth. It’s smaller and has improved battery life relative to the Halo 3, though it’s still reasonably large so I would only recommend it for larger dogs. 

I also use it to make sure she gets enough exercise. Right now, she’s getting 10 to 20 miles every day!