CNET’s Faith Chihil says this is a must-have if you have a window seat on the plane. “It’s so convenient to still have a drink holder when your tray table is up,” she says. “It’s also nice to have your battery, phone and headphones within reach without having to dig into the seat pocket. And I love that it folds flat too.” This makes a great travel gift because your giftee isn’t likely to have it already.
If you’re looking for a very compact power bank you can slide into your purse or pocket, this fast charging one by EnergyQC will do the trick. CNET’s Anna Gragert says she’s used her EnergyQC power bank for years and says she always keeps it in her purse, whether she’s traveling or running errands. “It’s slim and light, so it’s easy to carry around and always does the job when my phone needs a charge on the go,” she explains. “It’s a small, simple device that works great.”
Coming in at just slightly over $25, the Anker 523 PowerCore Slim 10K PD is one of CNET’s favorite power banks because it’s small but packs a lot of power. With a 10,000-mAh battery, you can fully charge an iPhone at least twice on a single charge. It also has a fast-charging USB-C port that can quickly get your phone or tablet back to life.
The addition of USB and USB-C ports to travel adapters has been one of the nicer upgrades in recent years. This adapter will work pretty much anywhere in the world and includes a passthrough plug for you to plug in a laptop or other standard device too. (Note that this won’t convert voltage, but that means it will still work with virtually any gadget, except for things like hair dryers and curling irons.)
You can’t ask for a better travel companion than the highly portable (and affordable) JBL Go 4 speaker. It’s waterproof, sounds great for its (tiny) size, recharges via USB-C and comes in a variety of fun colors too. It’s a great way to enjoy music in your hotel room, on a picnic and anywhere in between. And if you happen to get it wet, no problem — it has an IP67 waterproof and dustproof rating. It also made our pick for best pocket-friendly wireless speaker.
Plus, you can get the JBL Go 4 speaker for a great price right now. As CNET’s Ingrid Cruz points out, “At $40, it’s the lowest price we’ve seen for this speaker thus far and will likely be the best price for this speaker through the holiday season.”
If you’re one of those people who can stand to be a little more organized when traveling — or know someone else who could be — this accessory organizer is the answer. “I’ve had one of these for around 12 years or so and it’s an easy way for me to put all of my chargers, small electronics or whatever, in one place,” says CNET’s Peter Butler. You can also check out his review of the Cocoon GRID-IT for more.
No one can ever have enough AirTags, especially that traveler you know who tends to misplace…everything. While you probably know that the tracking devices can be useful when you misplace your keys or wallet, one of the more creative ways to use AirTags is to slip one into your luggage. “To relieve the stress of trying to locate your suitcase, you can put an AirTag tracker inside so you can track its whereabouts,” CNET’s Katie Teague says. And when you purchase the AirTags through Apple, you can get them engraved for free with an emoji, initials or numbers, which is a nice way to personalize this gift.
If you’re on the hunt for headphones that sound good but don’t cost a fortune, consider the Sony CH-720N. Editor David Carnoy named them the best midrange noise-canceling headphones and was pleasantly surprised by how good they sounded, considering their sub-$100 price tag. They don’t have the premium feel that more expensive headphones offer, but they are lightweight, have a comfortable fit and provide very good noise cancellation and voice-calling performance.
For those who still like to take non-phone photos, this is a fun camera to bring along when traveling. It not only allows them to instantly print photos but also to save them onto their phone, making it a win-win.
Help your giftee take their favorite entertainment with them on their travels with RayNeo’s Pocket TV. Originally designed to work with the RayNeo Smart glasses, the output is just USB-C, meaning it will work with any USB-C monitor or, if they have a USB-C-to-HDMI cable, any standard TV.
It’s powered by Google TV — so they can access all their favorite streaming apps — with 64GB of memory and room for an SD card. This way, “you can save your shows for offline travel on a plane,” explains CNET’s James Bicknell. “I’ve used it a lot with the RayNeo glasses and it’s a fantastic little ecosystem for watching your favorite shows privately while traveling.”
Traveling requires some situational awareness — listening for boarding call announcements, people walking up behind you on the street and more. But you don’t have to choose between listening to a podcast or hearing your environment with bone conduction headphones, which send sound waves through your cheekbones, not your ears.
CNET’s David Carnoy says that a big benefit of this technology is that you can be aware of — and hear — what’s going on around you while listening to music or having a phone conversation. “They’re very good for podcasts, talk radio, newscasts and audiobooks,” he says. They also made our pick for best bone-conduction headphones.
Whether your giftee is watching a movie on a flight, trying to distract the kids on a long road trip or just curling up on the couch, the iPad is a great travel-friendly gadget. This 10th-gen 2022 model comes with USB-C compatibility — finally! — which means it’ll be easier to find a spot to charge it on the go. Editor Scott Stein also liked that it comes with a bigger screen and better speakers compared to the previous 9th-gen version. It’s not a true laptop replacement, but the 10th-gen iPad gets a lot right, and it’s especially good for families who’ll be sharing it.
If you know someone who likes to write or draw when they’re traveling, the Amazon Kindle Scribe can be their new digital notepad — and whatever they create can also be uploaded to the cloud. Plus, the e-reader is front-lit with high resolution (300 pixels per inch), which is helpful. “The Scribe strikes a very good balance between a large-format e-reader and an E Ink note-taking tablet,” says CNET’s David Carnoy.
Note that Amazon just came out with a second-gen version of the Scribe, and the included stylus is a decent upgrade. However, the 16B model costs around $60 more and isn’t slated to ship until early December.
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