Mother’s Day is almost here, May 12th for those of you who aren’t great with dates. Want to do something different than flowers and greeting cards this year? While “tech and mom” might not seem to go together, there are many high-tech mother’s day gifts out there that your mom would never think to buy on her own, but would absolutely love… she just doesn’t know they even exist.
Here are just eight of the best high-tech Mother’s Day gifts worth considering:
Introduce her to the world of smart home tech with the Amazon Echo
While there are a bunch of smart speakers and smart displays out there, Amazon Echo is a great, simple starting point to introduce your mom to smart speakers and smart home tech in general.
The Amazon Echo is a tall cylinder with seven microphones and speakers all around, along with a Mute button on top of the device, and a circular dial that allows you to adjust the volume manually. Of course, the main point of the Echo is to use voice commands to ask questions like what today’s weather will be, purchase items on Amazon, and control other smart home devices. It can even stream music and audiobooks, among other things
Get the Amazon Echo from Amazon for $99.99
Help her take her reading to new digital heights
Get her a fitness and health tracker
I can personally vouch for Fitbit as a great gift for moms, or at least my mom. I bought her a Fitbit many years ago, and she wore it so much she had to get a newer one just last year. In particular the Fitbit Inspire HR is a great fitness tracker, health tracker, and sleep tracker. It’s just $100, too!
It’s small and lightweight, supports interchangeable straps, and offers smartphone notifications on your wrist. It might be small, but it doesn’t skimp on the features. The Fitbit Inspire HR offers Connected GPS, a heart rate sensor, as well as five-day battery life.
Fitbit too big and bulky? Get her smart jewelry instead
The Fitbit Inspire HR is one of the best fitness trackers you can buy, but it’s also pretty noticeable. Perhaps your mom prefers something a bit more stylish, a bit more stealthy in design? The Bellabeat Leaf Urban and Chakra could be more up her alley. These smart jewelry pieces can be worn as pendants on a necklace, clipped to clothing, or even worn as a bracelet.
While not as full-featured as a Fitbit, both models track sleep quality and basic fitness activity.
Get smart jewelry from Bellabeat starting at $107.85
Is your mom a shutterbug? Get her a mobile printer
Kodak is legendary in the photography world, known for producing some of the most popular film to date. So who better to turn to for the perfect device for letting your mom print out all those embarrassing photos on the fly?
The Kodak Photo Printer Mini is a wireless smartphone printer that uses 2.1″ x 3.4″ sheets, and take about one minute to print. It uses a different printing method than most of its competition called DyeSub printing, which uses heat to transfer dye onto the paper material. This method was developed in 1957 long before laser-based printing options, and while it is technically more primitive, some people may prefer the look.
The printer uses Wi-Fi direct to connect to your smartphone, and built-in NFC helps to pair your phone with a single touch. Kodak’s app is also a bit more mature than many other mobile printer apps, giving you the ability to print directly from social media, create collages, and even pull individual frames from a video.
Get the Kodak Mini 2 HD for $79.95
Is your mom addicted to Instagram? This could be the perfect gift
If your mother uses Instagram a lot, this could be something different that she’ll adore. The Parabo Photo Book Club is a special membership that creates an album for every 50 Instagram pictures she takes. There are options to make it hardcover, softcover, and so on.
Sign mom up for Parabo Photo Book Club starting at $9.99
Does your mom love hot drinks? This smart mug will keep them from getting too cold
I’m pretty sure my mom drinks a gallon of coffee a day. Whether it’s coffee, tea, or cocoa the Ember smart mug could be perfect for moms who have a love for hot beverages. This smart mug syncs with an app and let’s her set the drink to a preferred temperature so it never goes cold again.
Give her a little extra juice to keep her phone going
The powerstation keychain is perfect for the mom whose phone is always dying. The 1,200 mAh battery isn’t big, but its keychain design means it will be with her at all times, giving her just enough extra juice to keep her phone running until she gets home.
Get the Powerstation Keychain for $39.95