Call us spoil-sports, but we aren’t really that impressed by the standard Valentine’s gifts - petrol station flowers, a cheap box of chocolates, and a card with a big red heart on the front. After all, it’s all gone in a couple of days.

Don’t get us wrong, of course we’re a sucker for all things sentimental. But, at the risk of sounding ungrateful, Valentine’s Day gifts don’t have to stick to what’s predictable.

It’s a holiday that is absolutely synonymous with last-minute present buying, and yes, of course we’ve all been guilty of that sinking feeling of releasing what we’ve forgotten at 10:15 on the morning of Feb 14th.

So, to fix these two common problems at once, we’ve dedicated this blog post to a romantic round-up of some of the best Valentine’s technology gifts on the market.

These are the gifts that we’ll be covering in this guide:

1.  The iKettle Original
2.  The Amazon Echo Dot
3. The AEG Robot Vacuum Cleaner
4. The Smarter Coffee
5. The Google Nest Hub Max
6. The Union Coffee Subscription

Have a browse through our top Valentine’s gift guide, and pick out a device that your partner will a) be completely surprised by, and b) be delighted by the thoughtfulness of the gesture.

What’s more, you’ve got plenty of time to place your order at these online stores, ensuring your gift gets delivered to your home with no fuss and no stress. It’s a real win-win.

Without further ado, let’s start off our technology gifts round-up.

 

1. iKettle - Smart Kettle WiFi and Voice-Activated

This is the perfect gift to treat the tea-lover in your life.

The iKettle is an automated, smart kettle, which uses a handy phone app to make at-home drinks making infinitely easier. The device is remarkably efficient, and provides users with full flexibility. With a few taps on the app, you can select the precise temperature you want your water to be heated to, as well as the volume you require, and when you need it to be ready for.

If your partner already has voice activation devices installed in their home (if they don’t, we’ll be covering a few of our recommendations below), they can even pair these up with the iKettle, to create the ultimate modern, smart home experience. They’ll never get tired of putting their feet up and asking Alexa to boil the kettle for them.

This intuitive piece of technology is easy to use and quick to set up. It’s always awkward giving a piece of fiddly technology as a gift, and no one wants to spend hours setting up a device on Valentine’s Day.

It’s abilities don’t stop at tea making, either. It is ideal for keen home cooks, or is a fantastic help for any new parents having to do the nighttime feeds.

Find out more here

2. Amazon Echo dot - 4th Gen

The latest Echo dot from Amazon makes a great gift for any fans of the smart home lifestyle. This nifty little device has some ingenious capabilities, including crisp sound quality, multi-room music streaming, smart home control functions (including switching on the lights and adjusting the temperature), and hands-free phone calls.

Whether it’s asking for a weather update, adding something to the shopping list, or asking for your favourite tunes to be played in the kitchen, this smart speaker has a huge range of functions. What we love best about this device is the fact that you can keep discovering what it can do, and how it can help out with your routine.

All of these intuitive features are perfectly designed to help out with your partner’s day-to-day life.

Find out more here

3. AEG Robot Vacuum Cleaner

It’s the type of device that we’ve seen in futuristic films that depict the ‘house of the future’. The AEG Robotic Vacuum Cleaner is a fantastic piece of treat-yourself home technology.

This gift means endless chilled out evenings and lazy weekends, as neither you nor your partner have to stress about hoovering ever again. Sounds like a dream.

The device works by using in-built cameras and sensory lasers to guide itself around your home. In fact, you can leave it to get to work completely unattended. It comes in a small, compact size which makes for easy storage and unobtrusive cleaning.

We reckon this is the kind of gift that you would probably be a bit hesitant to fork out on if you were buying it for yourself. It’s one of those things that you really want, but feel like you have to justify purchasing. That’s why it makes such a brilliant gift - it's something all homeowners will get so much use out of and thoroughly enjoy owning, without the guilt that they’d be left with if they had spent the money on it themselves!

Find out more here

4. Smarter Coffee

The Smarter Coffee machine is the gift that keeps on giving - it enables a complete transformation of your partner’s coffee break routine.

This sleek smart appliance combines a chic, modern design with a multitude of functions. The device enables users to brew a fresh batch of coffee remotely. All they need to do is download the Smarter app, and they’re all set. You can use the app to set the machine to work, and specify exactly how much coffee you want, at the precise strength and temperature that you want it.

And the best bit? You don’t even have to get out of bed - the app works completely remotely.

As with the iKettle, the Coffee machine also works with voice activation devices, so you can ask Siri, Alexa or Google to brew a cup of coffee for you whenever you fancy.

Rather than promising to make your partner’s morning cup of coffee for them as a one-off Valentine’s treat, with the Smarter Coffee, you can effectively make this promise for a lifetime.

Find out more here

5. Google Nest Hub Max

Google is renowned for its user friendly products, which provide an innovative and perceptive solution to some of their user’s most common problems.

Their newest voice activation device, the Google Nest Hub Max, certainly ticks all of those boxes.

What’s great about this device is its large digital screen. This makes video calls with your friends and relatives fun and effortless. We’ve all been missing our loved ones over lockdown, and this device (as it’s installed in a communal space like a living room or kitchen), makes quick and informal chats super easy.

It’s also a wonderful way to make your loved ones feel involved in what you’re up to, as they can chat to you while you’re prepping dinner or enjoying a little tea break.

Plus, the Nest Hub Max can be connected with all of Smarter’s range of smart appliances. If you’re really looking to treat your Valentine, this device combo would be a wonderful way to do it.

Find out more here

6. Union Coffee Subscription

Life’s about the little things, and few things can beat a quality cup of coffee in the morning. Expensive, elaborate treats are all well and good, but we think a more thoughtful way to treat your Valentine would be an extra luxurious variety of coffee.

This coffee subscription deal from Union Roasted supplies you with fresh, hand roasted coffee through the post. Not only do these beans taste divine, but they do good by the producers, too. Union is committed to ethical and direct trading with its farmers, in order to ensure that they receive a fair price for their hard work.

The Coffee Club helps coffee enthusiasts to learn more about their favourite brews, discover new flavour profiles, varieties and roasts, all in a hassle-free home delivery service.

What’s more, you could pair a gifted subscription with a Smarter Coffee device, for the ultimate at-home coffee experience. Your partner’s home office coffee breaks will be completely transformed.

We hope that this tech-lovers Valentine’s gift guide has given you plenty of points of inspiration. Call us biased, but we can’t think of anything that we’d enjoy more than a newly upgraded smart home.

Find out more here


By Josephine Walbank