‘Tis the season of giving, but gifting can be stressful! You can spend hours searching for the perfect present and still not find something suited for your favorite techie. Perhaps you’re even struggling to come up with your own wish list filled with gadgets.

Stress no more … we asked AV professionals to share their top tech gifts for 2021 and they came up with a killer list!

Personally, I’m dreaming of Crestron Battery Powered Shades. They’re perfect for retrofits like my condo where it’s difficult to reroute the electric. They’re sleek, some in a variety of styles, and—perhaps best of all—use AA batteries!

Learn more about Crestron Shading in this video.

That’s my pick, but what are the top tech gifts for 2021 according to other AV professionals?

Meg Athavale, CEO, LUMO Interactive 

This year, inspired by my cat Momo’s ongoing career as a product demonstrator for LUMOplay and his need for a more professional wardrobe, my family and I decided to get gifts for each others’ pets. That’s how I discovered this incredibly cool kit designed to teach your dog how to track things by smell.

It includes games and guided activities that would normally be practiced in a professional lab with the goal of training a licensed search and rescue dog. The woman who designed this kit has a history of veterinary and forensic studies, and trains K-9 search and rescue dogs used to find missing people. I grabbed a kit for my brother and his wife, since I never know what to get them, and his lazy dogs don’t show any sign of getting a job and pitching in.

Learn more: https://www.etsy.com/listing/965375570/dog-nosework-scent-kit

Joe Dunbar, Key Account Manager—Northwest, Starin, a Midwich Group Company

I don’t know how much room is in Santa’s sleigh, but an interactive display is at the top of my personal office wishlist. I like my meetings to be collaborative and my presentations to be engaging, solutions such as the SMART MX055 line are a great way to do both.

Learn more: https://www.smarttech.com/en/products/business-displays/smart-board-pro-mx

Mark Burson, VP Marketing & Product Management, Nice North America

With person detection, full color low-light vision, and the ability to withstand harsh weather, the best stocking stuffer this year is one that can also be used to catch the stuffer of stockings! My tech gift suggestion would be the Abode Cam 2 for the holidays.

Learn more: https://goabode.com/product/abode-cam-2

John Henkel, Pro AV Product Marketing Manager, NETGEAR

Okay, so I’m a little biased, but the NETGEAR Orbi Pro WiFi 6 Mesh System is an outstanding product, even if I didn’t work for NETGEAR. It covers my entire house and the outside without a hiccup through countless Zoom meetings, webinars, and more. The wireless backhaul from the satellites to the router doesn’t take away from the device connection bandwidth so I always have maximum speed.

Learn more: https://www.netgear.com/business/wifi/mesh/sxk80/

Manolo Almagro, Managing Partner, Q Division, A Stratacache Company

Here’s a fun fact about me, I love to toast things. I’m obsessed with fine-tuning my toasting strategies for bagels, waffles, and—most importantly—Pop Tarts. Dialing in the perfectly toasted browness is almost impossible with traditional toasters. Until I ran across the rapper “Little Yachty” and his TikToks about The Revolution Touchscreen Toaster. I’m hooked! Based on the majority of reviews on Amazon, this is the toaster to give your favorite techie. This toaster looks like what would happen if an iPhone + a Toaster had a baby. Super customizable and totally repeatable toasting perfection.

Learn more: https://revcook.com/products/instaglo-r180-toaster

Jeremy Caldera, CTS-D, CTS-I, Senior Vice President, Pearl Technology

This Christmas as Santa comes down the chimney, I hope that the Elf on the Shelf saw I was a good boy and told the big man to bring the new Sony 100-inch Smart TV down the chimney with him and place it under my tree. There is nothing like receiving the gift of a theater-sized screen for my living room without using those large bulky projectors.  With its revolutionary processing understanding how humans see and hear, the intense contrast, deep blacks, and natural colors it’s the gift that keeps on giving year-round, Clark.

Learn more: https://electronics.sony.com/tv-video/televisions/all-tvs/p/xr100x92

Misha Fradin, Founder, Lumen and Forge

When I think of the holidays, I think about snow globes. Turning them over to reveal that snowy scene … that’s the best! We’re lucky to have created some spectacular ones at Lumen & Forge. So for me, I’d say I’d like one of our geodesic domes and this brand new 7K lumen laser projector by Optoma. 

Learn more: https://www.optomausa.com/product-details/zu720tst and https://lumenandforge.com/services/projection-dome-venues/

Joe Way, Director of Learning Environments, University of Southern California

Now that everywhere is a workspace in a hybrid world, I need to be comfortable! This year, I’m hoping Santa brings me a comfortable, new 2022 Secretlab Titan Chairs for my work and home offices for both my wife and I! Secretlab Chairs ensure we can work a full eight hours and not experience any of the pain of all-day sitting.

Learn more:  https://secretlab.co/pages/promotions

Rob Jones, Co-Founder, Enclave Audio

If I was lucky enough to make Santa’s good list this year, I’d hope to find a Hisense L9G 100″ Laser TV under my tree. Paired and integrated with my Enclave CineHome PRO Dual sub home theater system, it would be the ultimate gift that just keeps on giving with each and every movie and playoff game that graced it .

Learn more: https://www.hisense-usa.com/tv-and-audio/televisions/all-tvs/100L9G-CINE100_100-trichroma-laser-tv-cinema-screen

David Defelici, VP Business Development, Telecine

This holiday, I am looking for a virtual reality (VR) headset. I can use them with iRacing to learn famous racetracks ahead of time before I bring my car to one. Saves time and money—and makes for more fun on the track.

Learn more: https://www.oculus.com/quest-2/ and https://www.iracing.com/

Michael Short, Director of Residential Marketing, Crestron Electronics

As the holidays approach, one thing I’m particularly excited about showing off to my family is the ease with which we can all play our favorite music throughout the home this year. With Crestron NAX integrated into my Crestron Home system all my family can choose music straight from their phones and cast their favorite streaming service with ease. No more relatives fighting over cords or remotes! 

Learn more: https://www.crestron.com/Products/Featured-Solutions/Residential-Audio-Solutions/Audio-Over-IP

Kurt DeYoung, CRO, NanoLumens

I’ve been toying with the notion of a much bigger TV for my office. But why have a TV when you can go dvLED? I’m envisioning a 180” Captivate solution from NanoLumens to have our board and partner meetings on. It’s easy to install and all-in-one… what could be easier and bolder? Nothing.

Learn more: https://www.nanolumens.com/captivate-series/

More Ideas for Top Tech Gifts?

So, #AVTweeps, what’s on your list? We’d love to hear more. Tweet @LAVNCHCode and @MeganADutta to let us know your top tech gifts for 2021!