It’s often difficult to determine what constitutes ‘budget’ technology. Tech is, by its very nature, pricey to purchase unless you’re buying older stuff. Even then, go too far back and suddenly it’s “vintage” and “expensive”. That’s the explanation for why vinyl LPs cost as much as they do. Bloody hipsters, always mucking things up for the rest of us. Ahem.
We’ve chosen to define budget, in this case, as ‘under R2,000’. More specifically, budget means ‘under or as close to R1,000 as possible while remaining awesome. You’ll find the options in Stuff‘s print Gift Guide a little pricier than this but for the online edition, we reckon we’ve nailed it.
Lego City Advent Calendar 2024
The best sort of Christmas gift is the one you get to open before 25 December. That’s the main function of an advent calendar, which has come a long way since the days the little doors hid very small chocolates. The Lego City Advent Calendar for 2024 is an excellent choice, with arguably the best festive-themed bits tucked away in its cardboard frame. It’s also the most popular, so expect it to sell out fastest, but there are Lego Friends and Lego Disney options to check out. If you’re fine with older years (and can locate them) Lego Harry Potter and other lineups have also offered advent calendars before.
R500 | Buy it here
Nutribullet
There are loads of options for easily portable food liquification machines out there but this one, though it’s the humble basic edition, is still a winner. The internal battery gives users two weeks (assuming you make a smoothie a day) of use and the powerful motor will render down most ingredients to a satisfying paste. It’s charged via USB-C, so you could technically top it up at your desk during work, and the blending cup is also the bit you swig from. It’s all terribly efficient and, as these things go, not too expensive.
R1,400 | Buy it here
Samsung Galaxy Watch Fit 3
Samsung’s wearable tech is brilliant but its latest offerings can’t be classed as ‘budget’. Its lineup of Fit bands, with the third being an excellent option, are still handy trackers if your main use for them is to augment your fitness goals. It’ll give you more than ten days between charges, in part because it’ll borrow your phone’s GPS for super-accurate tracking, and it’ll charge up speedily enough that you’ll never have to be without it on your wrist. The Samsung Fit 3 is rated for five atmospheres (it can swim) and the IP68 rating makes it rugged in other areas as well.
R1,000 | Buy it here
True Utility Cardsmart Credit Card Tool
There are cheaper versions of this credit card multitool but they’re cheaper for a reason. This multifunctional lifesaver is made from black titanium-coated stainless steel, offers four different screwdriver options, twenty nut sizes, a can and bottle opener, and also includes a bicycle spoke spanner, among other functions. It’s ferociously handy but it’s also durable enough that we’d suggest avoiding flying with it. The security folks at Cape Town International Airport will almost certainly take it away from you.
R400 | Buy it here
Amazon Echo Pop
Amazon’s smallest Alexa-toting speaker weighs a little under 200 grams. Despite this, it’s capable of sending outsized sound into whatever space you’ve let it occupy. It is, unfortunately, not completely wireless and you’ll need to find somewhere to plug it on. Once that’s done, it’ll support most home networks thanks to dual-band WiFi support (2.4GHz and 5GHz) up to 802.11ac. It’ll integrate into a smart home setup, letting you issue commands to a) Alexa or b) connected devices. Amazon has also gone to extensive lengths to use recycled or recyclable material for the Echo Pop so you can be sure of some karmic balance when buying one as well.
R1,000 | Buy it here