Five great last-minute gadgets for Christmas

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Only detect

Metal detecting is where serendipity, skill and superstition collide. The chances of alighting on the precise spot where something of value was dropped several hundred years ago is small, but can be improved by shrewd planning and tiptop equipment. The superstition, according to a detectorist pal of mine, kicks in when you find something significant. “Your detector can end up becoming a good-luck talisman,” she says. “Owners swear by their machines, and get very twitchy if they need repairing.”

As I found, those bonds begin to grow as soon as you unbox one. Many of the gadgets I try for HTSI can be mastered in minutes; not so a metal detector. Nigel Richardson’s book The Accidental Detectorist accurately describes those early stages as “like reading a cookbook and not knowing what ‘peel’ or ‘boil’ means”. You only start to grasp the meaning of the numbers appearing on the display with practice, and the idiosyncratic beeps are a language you have to learn through a process of digging and disappointment.

Having said all that, Minelab (HQ in South Australia) does a good job of smoothing that steep learning curve. Decades of expertise in detecting military mines have been channelled into its range of “coin and treasure” products, at the middle of which sits this Elite model. As with any detector, its coil pushes radio frequencies into the ground and gives you a reading whenever they hit something, but the Elite’s Multi-IQ feature works across a broader frequency range, and actively helps you to discriminate between iron, copper, silver, etc. Selectable search modes optimise the readings for open fields, parks and the beach (it’s waterproof up to 5m). 

Minelab claims that one customer in Europe found a military tank while searching underwater, and another helped to unearth the Chew Valley hoard, a stash of 11th-century pennies now worth £4.3mn. To be honest, I’d be happy with one hammered silver coin with a long-forgotten monarch’s head on it. I continue to sweep my back garden in anticipation.

Look! Still no hands

The story of the theremin is a fascinating one, from its accidental invention in St Petersburg around 1920 by Leon Theremin to his unrequited love for its first virtuoso, Clara Rockmore. Here, it collides endearingly with the Stylophone, another unorthodox electronic instrument of yesteryear. Insert six AA batteries and you’re off; the proximity of the antenna to your hands controls the pitch, and getting used to its quirks requires considerable patience. But there’s an additional oscillator that’s more easily controlled (with a slider), which feels rather similar to the Stylophone. The two can be combined with delays and vibrato to create wildly evolving soundscapes.

A portal to retro-gaming nirvana

There’s nothing stopping you playing retro games on your Android phone, but the Pocket Micro (effectively an Android device that is housed in an elegant chassis) is more akin to an authentic Nintendo DS or Game Boy Micro experience, with its D-pad, joysticks and ABXY buttons. Ayaneo’s version of Android also gives you a bunch of customisation options to fine-tune your adventures. It doesn’t come preloaded with games, and you’ll need to download emulators in order to play your games from other platforms. But once it’s up and running, it’s powerful and flexible enough to handle everything from most PS2 titles to ZX Spectrum games from the mid-1980s.

Girl with the pearl earphones

In 2010, fashion designer Thakoon Panichgul produced a collection of jewellery for Tasaki called Balance, based on a row of five pearls set along a gold bar. To celebrate the jeweller’s 70th anniversary, that design has provided the springboard for its first foray into technology, this set of wired earphones. Developed in collaboration with Japanese audio firm Acoustune, it features a 10mm dynamic driver and a diaphragm made of Myrinx, a medical-grade polymer biomaterial used for artificial skin, and delivers a finessed sound to match. Comprising Akoya pearl and brass with 18ct gold vermeil, it’s available exclusively at the Tasaki Selfridges London pop-up until the new year.

Holy tumbler, Batman

Batman’s car, back then a vibrant red, was christened the Batmobile in the pages of Detective Comics in 1941. Over the decades, it has radically evolved, passing through myriad iterations and acquiring multiple lethal-weapons systems. Health and safety considerations no doubt prevented the latter from being included in this Warner Bros-authenticated driveable (though not on public roads) replica of the “Tumbler” Batmobile, but it otherwise adheres closely to the design that appeared in the Dark Knight trilogy. It comes with jet-engine simulation and a smokescreen-delivery system. Your main concern will be steering clear of any rocket-propelled grenades launched by the Joker.

@rhodri