Holiday Gift Guide For Gamers And Geeks (2016)

The holidays are upon us which means it’s time to open up our wallets and spend some money on gifts for ourselves and our friends and family.

Some of the most interesting products are presented for games and gaming consoles while pointers are also up for grabs on products that should excite just about every geek. This 2016 holiday gift guide features some of the best products for gamers and geeks.

HTC Vive

HTC announced its arrival on the virtual reality scene with the HTC Vive. It’s a pretty robust headset with a 2160×1200 pixel resolution OLED screen with a refresh rate of 90Hz and a 110-degree field of view. It’s a proper virtual reality solution but do keep in mind that it requires a compatible PC to function. In our review of the HTC Vive we found that it’s pretty great at what it’s supposed to do and gave it an overall product rating of 10/10 and named it best VR Headset of the moment. It’s a bit expensive at $799 (+gaming rig) but it’s certainly worth it.

Samsung Gear VR

The virtual reality trend is also bolstered by mobile VR solutions that are not tethered to a PC. The Gear VR from Samsung is one such solution. This $99 headset requires a compatible Samsung smartphone to function and given that only the company’s flagship smartphones are supported it’s not exactly a cheap option if you don’t already own a Samsung flagship like the Galaxy S7, Galaxy S6 or Galaxy Note 5. You can get the previous version for $49.

Sony Playstation VR

Sony took its time to jump on the virtual reality bandwagon as it only recently released the PlayStation VR headset. It’s a bit different from existing headset as it doesn’t need a PC or a smartphone to function but it does require a gaming console. You will need to purchase a PlayStation 4 in order to take advantage of the PlayStation VR. The headset is relatively affordable at $399 and has been launched with support for more than 30 VR games.

Microsoft Xbox One S

Microsoft launched a refreshed version of the Xbox One a few months ago and it has helped shift the console sales momentum in the company’s favor. Xbox One S is 40 percent smaller than the original Xbox One and comes with a fresh coat of “robot white” paint. It also does away with the external power brick of the original console. Minor performance improvements include the ability to watch Blu-ray movies and stream 4K UHD video while support for HDR gaming and video is also onboard. The Xbox One S starts at $299 with 500GB of storage but great deals and bundles provide more bang for the buck.

Sony Playstation 4 Pro

The PlayStation 4 Pro is the most powerful console that Sony has ever built. It comes with double the graphics processing power and a 1TB hard drive. PlayStation Pro has support for 4K gaming with compatible setups, it can power games at full HD and even higher framerates on TVs or monitors that don’t support 4K. Released earlier this month, the PlayStation 4 Pro costs $399.

Nintendo Entertainment System Classic Edition

Take a trip down memory lane with the Nintendo Entertainment System Classic Edition. It’s a mini-console that is just a smaller version of the original NES. It comes pre-installed with 60 games such as The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario Bros., Donkey Kong, and more. By Nintendo’s own admission, this mini-console is a “hot item,” meaning you might find it hard to get your hands on this $60 product. However, the company has promised to provide additional inventory throughout the holidays.

NVIDIA Geforce 1080 GTX

Add some serious graphics processing power to your gaming rig with the top-of-the-line NVIDIA GTX 1080 graphics card. The company’s numbers show that it’s capable of outperforming its GTX 980 predecessor by a factor of up to 1.8x in recent. In VR this performance boost hits almost 2.5x. One single GeForce GTX 1080 card is faster than two GTX 980 cards linked through SLI. All of this fantastic performance comes at a very reasonable cost of $600.

Razer Blade Gaming Laptop

The Razer Blade is a robust gaming notebook with a 14 inch display, a 6th generation intel i7 6700HQ processor and up to 16GB of RAM as well as an NVIDIA GeForce GTX1060 graphics card. Customers who are willing to pay more can also get the notebook with an OHD+ display while the base configuration starts at $1,799 with an HD display and 256GB SSD storage.

Razer DeathAdder Chroma Mouse

Billed as “the world’s best gaming mouse,” the Razer DeathAdder Chroma is a must have for gamers this holiday season. It has been designed to fit snugly under the palm and provide a comfortable gaming experience. It’s equipped with a 10,000dpi optical sensor that is capable of mouse movement speeds of up to 300 inches per second and 50g acceleration. It’s pretty great at what it offers for $69.99.

Lenovo Ideacentre Y900 With Nvidia GTX 1080 Gaming Desktop

Announced earlier this year, Lenovo says the Ideacentre Y900 is the “world’s first gaming desktop” that features NVIDIA’s GeForce 1080 graphics card. It’s equipped with up to quadcore 6th Generation Intel Core i7 processor and offers easy upgradability to those who wish to tweak their gaming rigs. The gaming desktop starts at $1,899.

LG Ultrawide 34UC79G-B 34″ FHD Gaming Monitor

If you already have a gaming rig but would like to purchase a great monitor, check out the LG Ultrawide 34UC79G-B 34″ FHD Gaming Monitor. At $699, it provides a 34 inch Curved IPS display panel with 2560×1080 pixel resolution, 21:9 aspect ratio and 14ms response time. AMD FreeSync support is included which provides gamers with a seamless, fluid experience through high-resolution, fast-paced games.

Logitech G710 Blue Mechanical Gaming Keyboard

The $129 Logitech G710 Blue Mechanical Gaming Keyboard is a great high-end keyboard with shortcut keys. With an actuation force and distance of 50 g and 2.2 mm respectively, the keys are optimized for rapid command entry. They have been tested for durability to a 50 million cycle life. It also has six programmable G-Keys with three macros per G-Key so users can configure up to 18 individual functions per game.

Moto Z Play Modular Phone

Moto Z Play is the latest smartphone from Motorola/Lenovo. It has been designed to offer a premium experience and a lot of features. The modular nature allows users to swap various modules to enhance the handset’s functionality. The modules can easily be snapped on the handset’s back. It’s a pretty good deal at a full retail price of around $450.

Chronos

If you’re not willing to give up your conventional wristwatch just yet but would like to have some of the features offered by smartwatches, Chronos is the product for you. It’s a smart disc which attaches to the back of any watch and adds features like music control, fitness tracking, notification alerts, and the ability to tap to find the paired smartphone. It’s a pretty good deal at $99.

Project Tango Lenovo Phab 2 Pro Smartphone

Google’s Project Tango is a pretty cool technology which combines hardware and software to provide smartphones and tablets with a spatial and visual awareness never seen before. It can provide a better augmented reality experience by better understanding the world in its immediate surrounding. The Lenovo Phab 2 Pro is the first Project Tango smartphone and it’s now available for purchase. Lenovo is directly selling the Phab 2 Pro online for $499.

Adnan Farooqui
Categories: Gaming, Shopping
Tags: gaming, geek