Rhodri Marsden picks 16 gifts for tech experts

Dyson OnTrac headphones, £449.99
Of all the cans I’ve clamped on my head this year, Dyson’s – its first standalone headphones – were the most surprising. Wonderfully isolating (thanks to cutting-edge noise-cancelling tech from more than 30 years’ experience in aeroacoustics), supremely comfortable and sonically exquisite. dyson.co.uk

Origin Story book trilogy by Ian Dunt and Dorian Lynskey, from £9.49 each
Lynskey and Dunt’s dissections of political concepts and clichés make for a fascinating podcast, and now three of their investigations into misused and misunderstood ideas – fascism, centrism and conspiracy theory – have become books. waterstones.com

Global Knives seven-piece knife block set, £750
Back in the day, Global Knives trailblazed an awareness among British foodies that Japanese knives were quite the thing – and they still are. These seven-piece sets (six knives, one block) produced for the firm’s 40th anniversary combine the oriental (eg, Kiritsuke) and the traditional (eg, bread), all with Global’s iconic dotted pattern. globalknives.uk

Hedley Studios x Bentley Blower Jnr Blue Pack-edition electric car, from £85,000
At 5.45pm on 13 March 1930, the chairman of Bentley Motors, Woolf Barnato, set off from Cannes in his Speed Six, aiming to reach London before the famous Train Bleu could chug its way to Calais. He made it – just! This blue edition of the 85-per-cent-scale, all-electric Bentley Blower Jnr commemorates that journey. hedleystudios.com

Birdfy Feeder 2 Duo smart birdwatching feeder, £279.99
Products by Birdfy and BirdWeather have transformed me into something of an avian enthusiast, and this new addition to Birdfy’s range could dial up my fascination another notch: a solar-powered, slo-mo, triple-lens feeder camera, letting me observe the local robins chowing down on their breakfast with hitherto unimaginable clarity. birdfy.com

A Yacht Rock Odyssey vinyl compilation album, £32.99
As a scruffy-haired twentysomething indie oik, I had to suppress my love of the Doobie Brothers and Hall & Oates for fear of ridicule. These days I no longer care, and am happy to be outed as a proud yacht rocker. Katie Puckrik’s selection of the smoothest West Coast sounds is both entertainment and education. roughtrade.com

reMarkable Paper Pro drawing tablet, £559
The stacks of notebooks and pots of pens on my desk are evidence that old habits die hard. However, here is a complete delight for compulsive note-scribblers like me, thanks to its versatility, tactile surface and the realistic action of the Marker pen. Notes magically convert to editable text with the press of a button. remarkable.com

Husqvarna Automower 450X kids’ remote-control toy, £74.99
My son is obsessed with vehicles of every kind, and thus toy vehicles of every kind, from garbage trucks to diggers to dump trucks, and (naturally) anything related to the emergency services. So, what to get him next? Answer: a remote-control mini robot lawnmower. Maybe it’ll kickstart an interest in gardening… husqvarna.com

iGulu S1 countertop brewer, $549
Coffee fanatics have, over the years, come to grudgingly accept that some one-tap machines might actually be quite good. Now beer enthusiasts might be about to go on a similar journey. This smart brewing machine transforms ingredients into beer (or cider, or kombucha, or mead) with the press of a button, although it’ll take 1-2 weeks longer than an espresso. igulu.com

Teenage Engineering EP-1320 Medieval instrument, £299
“I know,” I imagine someone saying in a meeting, “let’s make a synth featuring sounds from the 15th century – you know, the shawm, the hurdy gurdy, the gittern, with sound effects of rowdy peasants and clanking chains and a torture chamber reverb” – and somehow, they get it signed off. A preposterous and truly wonderful instrument. teenage.engineering

Xgimi MoGo 3 Pro projector, £429
Projectors aren’t generally renowned for their beauty, but this is an extremely cute spotlight-style unit, no bigger than an XL takeaway coffee cup but able to fill a 120in screen. Powered from its stand or a power bank, it runs Google TV natively (Netflix, Prime Video, Apple TV+ etc); flip it to vertical and it becomes a gently glowing Bluetooth speaker. uk.xgimi.com

Vitruvian Trainer+ fitness machine and Entry Kit, £3,230
My perpetual need to shape up is undermined by my dislike of being observed in the act of exercise and my lack of space at home. This “resistance training platform” gives you a smart weights machine in a platform measuring less than 4ft by 2ft, with the accompanying app providing access to hundreds of exercises and workouts designed by big-name athletes. Here’s to being ripped by Easter. vitruvianform.com

xTool M1 Ultra crafting machine, £1,199
If you’re in the market for an inkjet printer, but not just for printing on paper, maybe plywood too, and if you’d also like it to be able to laser-cut that plywood (or maybe leather, or acrylic) and also engrave glass, or metal, then the M1 fits the bill. The secret lies in its hot-swappable modules: equip it with a marker pen and it’ll draw for you, too. uk.xtool.com

Marloe Watch Company x Ardnamurchan Distillery Glenbeg Blue collector’s set watch and whisky, £849
British design, Swiss manufacture, Scottish inspiration. The dial of the Glenbeg Blue features copper detailing inspired by the stills at the Ardnamurchan Distillery in the Western Highlands; the collector’s set couples the watch with a numbered bottle and a ticket to a behind-the-scenes tour. marloewatchcompany.com

Mous Day backpack, £129.99
British firm Mous is primarily known for high-quality cases for laptops, phones and tablets, but this 20-litre pack holds all of those and more besides. They’ve reinvented the form of the top-loading pack (the main compartment opens out into a neat V-shape for easy access) and presented it in a range of pleasant shades including sage, marine and stone. uk.mous.co

Chargeasap Connect Pro smart charging cable, $60
Anyone who has reached into a tangled bag of cables to charge their phone or laptop will know that not all USB cables are made the same. This smart cable, built for fast-charging, has a USB-C connector at one end, a range of magnetic, hot-swappable connectors at the other, and a built-in LED display to show how quickly things are progressing. chargeasap.com