The Gift Buying Season Begins – Gadget and Product Review

Disclosure: Travel Products Hawaii provided me the 360-degree face tracking smartphone stand, to test and try out. I also received a discount for the other three items mentioned in this blog post. However, I was not asked to do this review, nor did I receive any additional compensation for my opinion.

As our country continues to reopen for business and there is a surge in travel, the gift-buying season is upon us. This weekend is Father’s Day, next week from June 21 to 22, it will be Amazon Prime Day, and not long after that, it will be Black Friday again.

With that said, for this post I’m reviewing an interesting little electronic gadget, as well as a few other very practical products made by Travelon. All are distributed here in Hawaii by Travel Products Hawaii, a local retail business that can often be found at pop-up events and craft fairs on Oahu. Travel Products Hawaii specializes in creative and useful items to make traveling easier and safer. They also sell a variety of small electronic accessories.

The first item is something some tech junkies might like. I tested out a 360-degree face/body tracking smartphone stand. The unit is generic looking, made in China, but the build quality felt solid enough. The idea behind this gizmo is, you put your cellphone in the mount, turn on the sensor, and it locks onto your face or body to track you wherever you go. This product is great for streaming and watching videos, as you move about. You are assured that wherever you move to, the stand will rotate to ensure that the phone screen or camera will face in your direction. So it’s good for recording videos of you, as you are free to roam freely in your area. This device would be ideal for vlogging, zoom calls, or maybe using when distance learning/teaching. While I don’t do Tik Tok, I do think this product would especially benefit people who enjoy doing Tik Tok videos.

Not only does this unit rotate to track its subject 360-degrees, but the stand itself is compatible with any tripod. What I especially like about this auto-rotating stand is that it doesn’t require an app download. Nor do you need to pair it with your phone. Finally, it’s rechargeable using a mini-USB cord.

The next three products I tried were items geared for keeping high touch items clean, or personal hygiene, for on the go people. While States are opening up, and travel is in resurgence, a lot of people remain vigilant about protecting themselves from harmful germs. The first item is a pack of antimicrobial pouches. These pouches use a material that is said to inhibit the growth of bacteria, and is reusable with rinsing. You can use one of these pouches for storing and keeping items such as travel documents, small electronic devices, accessories, makeup, etc. Similarly, the next item, an antimicrobial cloth, is designed to clean and wipe small personal belongings as you are out and about. You can clip the casing to your backpack or belt loop, and when you need to clean items on the go, just pull the cloth out of its case for easy access. It is also made from a reusable and washable fabric.

We live in an era where soap and water have been a key way to effectively protect ourselves from the coronavirus and other germs. So the third item is the pocket hand soap sheet dispenser. There is nothing high-tech about this one. No fancy name or flashy gimmick. It’s just good ‘ole fashioned soap, in the form of small, thin sheets, to help kill and wash away all the germs from your hands. This travel item is a convenient way to carry “real hand soap” (not hand sanitizer), in a compact form factor. The case itself contains, 50 sheets of soap, assuring you that you will have hand soap anywhere you go. This has already proven very handy on two occasions. The first time was when we attended an outdoor fair, where there was a water faucet, but there was no soap. The second time was at the zoo, with the same situation. Luckily we had our soap sheets in our backpack, and we were able to wash our hands thoroughly before we ate our lunch.

Finally, the only thing left for me to say is that these products seem to be made of good quality. I can also see such products being useful for a long time going forward. After all, many of us have been conditioned even more (if that’s possible) about being heavily reliant on our electronic devices to stay connected. Plus, we are way more cognizant about washing our hands and keeping our things clean.

So if you are looking for unique and useful gift ideas at an affordable price, take a look at these great items. You can follow Travel Products Hawaii on social media at @TravelProductsHawaii to learn more, and to stay up to date on their new products.

Looking for other gift ideas? Check out Mark’s other post about modern devices that can sanitize your smartphone, tablet and other small personal belongings using UV-C light.