Ten Motivational Tech Gifts For Dreamers, Planners And Doers

The Fitbit Ionic is Fitbit’s first smartwatch, and when it comes to getting fit, this is a sure-fire way of keeping your partner motivated. They’ll be able to access on-device workouts that adapt based on their feedback. There’s a Run Detect feature that senses when the wearer is running and automatically kicks in with stats and GPS tracking, then pauses when they stop, a Swim Mode, the watch being water resistant up to 50 meters, continuous heart rate tracking, plus they can listen to music on the go, with the Ionic able to store about 300 songs (2.5GB storage). What’s more, with sleep tracking, a battery life of up to five days, and calls, texts and calendar alerts, it’s a watch that’s useful beyond the gym. They can also take part in group step challenges by syncing with friends. What more motivation do they need?

Buy Fitbit Ionic for £299 from Fitbit

This Braun juicer is better than most at extracting all that goodness from fruit and veg, and it does it at a healthy price too. It features a 75mm wide feeding tube (wide enough for whole apples or carrots for example), a removable pulp container, a froth separator and a 1.25L juice collector. There are two speed settings, depending on what’s being juiced, and it’s also relatively quiet compared to most juicers. To cap it off, the Multiquick is easy to dismantle and clean, including being dishwasher safe.

Buy the Braun Multiquick 5 Juicer for £120 from Amazon

Scientific research recently revealed that learning a language as an adult could have a big impact on brain health, delaying the onset of brain ageing and even preventing dementia. And that’s before we get to the practical benefits of being able to converse with millions of new people or immersing oneself in another culture. Rosetta Stone has been teaching languages for 25 years now, and their apps are clear and comprehensive, providing a variety of methods that motivate users to speak, read and write in one of over 20 different languages. Wunderbar, magnifique, and indeed, maravilloso!

Buy Rosetta Stone language apps for £130 from Rosetta Stone

With every phone now doubling as a video camera complete with editing suite, many of us have developed some degree of film literacy. But what if your giftee would like to take things to the next level and make their filmmaking a little more professional? If so, this Panasonic camcorder is ideal. It produces excellent HD video, has a high-quality zoom function, uses excellent optimal image stabilization to offset camera shake, and is easy to connect with other digital devices. All in all, a blockbuster in the making.

Buy the Panasonic camcorder HC-V770K for £399 from Amazon

Whether it’s doodling for fun, designing for work, creating a comic or finessing a photo, the Intuos Pen Tablet is a fantastic way to go about it. Connecting to a laptop or PC, choose from four different tablet options – Draw, Photo, Comic and Art, each of which comes with a separate software package. The pen and touch pad are intuitive to use, and exploring the vast range of graphical possibilities is both simple and exciting. A great introduction to digital art for the creative soul in your life.

Buy the Wacom Intuos Pen Tablet for £49.99 from Amazon

This Wi-Fi enabled Smart Scale will not only provide your partner with stats on their weight, but also body fat percentage and body mass index (BMI). Moreover, it synchs with smartphone or Fitbit watch/wristband to wirelessly provide information on how their activities impact upon their weight. It also provides charts and graphs, so over time they can chart their progress and set new weight and fitness goals.

Buy the Fitbit Aria 2 scales for £119.99 from Fitbit

This one’s a win-win. Your other half gets to make linguine, ravioli, tortellini or spaghetti, and you get to eat pasta that tastes like it’s come from The River Café. Imperia’s pasta machine looks great in shiny chrome-plated steel, and it clamps to the side of a worktop leaving hands free for feeding the dough through the rollers onto the guiding tray. It’s easy to clean too, which is good for you given you’ll be tasked with that job – they’ve done the cooking after all!

Buy Imperia pasta machine for £69.95 from John Lewis

Does that special person in your life have an urge to tinkle the ivories? Given an upright or grand piano costs the earth (and weighs about as much too), why not start them off with Yamaha’s P-45 Stage piano? It comes with a weighted keyboard for that traditional piano feel, and thanks to an Advanced Wave Memory (AWM) tone generator it sounds completely authentic. And they’ll also get the digital advantages, able to connect to a computer for recording and sequencing, to change keyboard sounds to things like harpsichord and organ, and it’s compatible with headphones so you don’t have to hear them endlessly practicing their scales. Given it’s only 11.5kg, it can also be stored easily when not in use.

Buy the Yamaha P-45 stage piano for £350 from Dawsons Music

You’re the real star in their life, sure, but they can’t spend all their time gazing at you. And if your loved one can be found regularly craning their neck skywards at night, this Skywatcher Explorer 130mm Newtonian telescope might be the perfect gift to fire their enthusiasm for all things heavenly. It provides wonderful views of the moon and planets, as well the familiar constellations, and if they want to explore deeper and discover more distant galaxies, it’s easy to fit new lenses that further increase magnification.

Buy a Skywatcher telescope for £198.99 from Amazon

Not all exercise has to involve donning Lycra and putting on running shoes – great way to stay fit and enjoy each other’s company is to take long walks. Buying them a subscription to the complete Ordnance Survey Maps is a fantastic way to encourage them into a pair of hiking boots to take in Britain’s bucolic pleasures. With it they’ll get the full range of OS maps for the UK, available via computer, tablet or smartphone. Along with detailed maps of elevation and terrain, there are also half a million routes provided by other OS map users, covering every square inch of the country.

Buy the OS Map App from £20 a year for a recurring subscription from Ordnance Survey