It’s high school or college graduation time, and it usually means giving some sort of gift.
Here are some gift ideas for graduates. Whether you’re going to university or are still thinking about your next career path, you’ll love this book.
Tribit Stormbox flow
I think a Bluetooth speaker is an underrated gift.
Everyone loves listening to music and podcasts. If you’re not wearing earphones, you’ll want to listen through a good wireless speaker like the Tribit StormBox Flow ($79.99 on Amazon).
Flow measures 3.5 inches x 7.9 inches x 2.1 inches and weighs 1.5 pounds. It’s made of smooth plastic and has rubber feet on the bottom and back so you can direct the sound towards you or directly above you.
When you pair Flow to your phone, all sounds will be streamed, including calls. Flow has a microphone so it can function as a speakerphone. At the top of Flow, you’ll find buttons to turn on Flow, turn the volume up and down, and answer and hang up calls.
There are also buttons to cycle through several equalizer presets and pair two flows to form a stereo pair.
The Flow has a single 25-watt speaker driver, and we think it sounds good, especially when you adjust the EQ settings in the free Tribit app.
The Flow has a battery that can play music for up to 30 hours, and it also has a USB port for charging your phone. Please note that only USB charging is provided until the battery itself drops to 50% battery.
The Flow is large enough to sound good, but small enough to carry in your bag. I wish it were a little lighter, but I think it would be at the expense of sound quality and battery life.
lofree flow 100
I type a lot for work.
It takes about 30 seconds to decide if the keyboard is worth keeping. I prefer keyboards that aren’t too loud and don’t tire my fingers when I type hundreds of words.
I have a new keyboard called Flow by Lofree that has been on my desk for about 2 months.
Flow comes in two models: 84 keys ($159) or 100 keys ($169). The 100-key model I tested has a numeric keypad on the right side. Lofree calls the Flow the smoothest mechanical keyboard, and my keyboard works very well. Typing is almost effortless and you can type at the speed of your fingers.
You can get the keyboard in white with ghost switches or black (in my case) with phantom switches.
The key is equipped with a Kailh Full POM switch. POM (polyoxymethylene) is a type of plastic known for its extreme elasticity and low friction.
The Ghost Switch is described as “linear” with a quiet sound and a feather-light touch. Phantom switches are “tactile” switches with a gentle sound and sensitive touch. Lofree’s website has all sorts of specs and diagrams showing the tactile points, operating points, and return points for each key type. I don’t completely understand all the specs like the “actuation force” level, but I think the Phantom’s switch takes a little more pressure to actuate and returns a little faster.
The keys are hot-swappable, so they can be easily removed and changed.
The keyboard body is made of aluminum and connects to your computer via USB or Bluetooth. There are white LED lights under the backlit keys, and there are also LED lights on each side of the bottom keyboard (colors can be customized).
Baseus Blade 2 Smart Power Bank
I’m a big fan of external batteries. I love being prepared, but I hate being underpowered.
Baseus Blade 2 ($99.99) is a 12,000 milliamp-hour external battery with a unique form factor. Instead of a bulky brick like a battery, the Blade 2 has a flat shape (7.3 mm) like a drink coaster.
The Blade 2 has some external battery features I haven’t seen before, including an app to monitor battery activity and a color screen to display charge level and input/output power levels.
The battery can provide 65 watts of fast charging from the two USB-C ports, which can also be used to charge the battery (maximum input 60 W). You can charge two devices at the same time, and the screen will display the current charging status of each device.
The battery lasts over 20,000 charge cycles.
The combination of battery capacity, charging speed, and form factor makes it a very portable battery.