Gadgets for Your Home
Favourite Picks FOR 2021
01/07
VITAMIX
Every home deserves a Vitamix. Pictured here is our favourite A3500i model, available online for £675.00, and at John Lewis and other approved stockists.A regular blender does just what the name implies: blends. On the other hand, Vitamix manages to cook it while it blends, and quickly, too. Blend for two minutes and your ingredients will have been reduced to a perfect, smooth purée. The Vitamix is so powerful that the soup will actually get hot (not just warm) while it blends. No need to transfer to a sauce pot to bring it to temperature. To cook a soup you just need to throw in the vegetables, broth and ingredients in and let the machine work its magic.
A Vitamix blender has become an essential family friend and necessary addition to every kitchen. It creates healthy hot and cold dishes, without losing the nutritional value of the ingredients. The speed means cooking time is fast, and family friendly. There are handy Vitamix books with recipes to inspire how you use your machine.
02/07
THERMOMIX
Every home needs to have the means to be comfortable – its an ordinary part of life. This year has shown us that the kitchen and all the tricks of cooking have become even more important to our everyday life. One of the most web-searched kitchen cooking devices is the Thermomix®.
A brand new, updated version of the ultimate multi-functional kitchen appliance is Thermomix® TM6, which provides the optimal smart-home solution for cooks of all abilities. The revolutionary Thermomix® TM6 has stunned all cooks into wonder and hassle-free cooking.
The Revolutionary Thermomix® TM6
Thermomix® has the popular functions such chopping, weighing, cooking, steaming, simmering and emulsifying, stirring, mixing, grinding, kneading, whisking. In addition, the upgraded TM6 machine also offers a kettle function, blending, fermentation, sous-vide, pre-clean and sugar stages providing the freedom of completely hassle-free cooking. So home-made jams, check, home-made keffir yoghurt, double check!
The innovative programming allows recipes to be shown on a massive screen, and the machine to be programmed by time, temperature, cooking function, and blade-speed accordingly. The machine will prompt you through the stages of the recipe, cueing when to add new ingredients and even helping you measure each addition. It’s the sous-chef, which knows what to do, when to do it, and how to do it – without getting anything wrong or hovering over your shoulder and getting in your way while you cook!
The machine comes with a vast universe of recipes, developed in-house, which pairs with it’s expansive cooking functions, brings home a new relationship with cooking, planning, and meal-prepping. Cutting down on cooking time, creating ease and efficiency, and reducing clutter, will make you fall in love with the new way of cooking that the Thermomix brings to your kitchen.
So whether for a kitchen connoisseur or budding-enthusiast, if you are thinking of something to get the mum, dad, sister, wife or hubby who has everything, the Thermomix is one thing we truly believe no kitchen is complete with out. We will be adding one to our office and testing out their thousands of recipes – so come along on the journey and get cooking the revolutionary new way with us, the Thermomix way!
03/07
MELITTA
The best part of morning is to wake up to the smell of fresh ground coffee. To that end, we are obsessed with Melitta® coffee and machines. We have two coffee machines to share with you
The Avanza®
If you’re interested in a bean to coffee machine then look no further than the Melitta® Avanza®, which boasts an impressive design and equally impressive features. The control panel across the top of the machine makes it even easier to prepare your coffee. There is a built in grinder that is especially quiet, and the new Melitta® Easy Cappuccinatore makes it simple to prepare latte macchiato or cappuccino by frothing the milk (or milk alternative) for you. You can choose the amount of water to coffee, choose to pour for one or two cups, all simply by pressing a couple of buttons. Thanks to the extra-large water tank and bean container, you can easily serve delicious coffee to your party group, and show off your new appliance.
The Avanza® is one of the smallest fully automatic coffee machines on the market, yet impresses with its functions, features and appearance. One further important aspect of the Avanza, true to all Melitta machines, is that the pressure applied to produce the espresso ensures the coffee maintains its velvety taste with out any bitter or burnt aftertaste. Melitta has ensured there is a ideal contact time between water and coffee beans to allow the flavours to unfold better, a difference you can taste with every cup.
Avanza® by Melitta® is available via melitta.co.uk RRP: £499.99
Melitta® EPOS®
If you are not into the froth of cappuccinos and lattes, nor shots of espresso, then why not consider the Melitta® EPOS®, the brand’s first electric Pour Over system.
Melitta® EPOS® turns each second into a sensational experience. From the aroma of the freshly ground coffee beans to the first sip.
The machine has its integrated grinder to make the coffee as delicious as if your brewed it by hand, just like the olden days. “Blooming” is the most important part of this special way of preparing coffee: to begin with, you only dampen the coffee lightly with the water and allow it to bloom before pouring over more water. This allows the roasting gases to be released in an ideal way, coffee extraction is improved and the flavour can develop fully. The result is a full-bodied coffee flavour.
The pleasure of coffee is simply yours at the touch of a button. And it is also a visual treat.
The Melitta® EPOS® is available via melitta.co.uk RRP: £299
04/07
KitchenAid
Baking doesn’t work as well without the KitchenAid Artisan Stand Mixer. How many of us took to baking as a new found therapy during the lockdowns, only to realise that our mixer was too old, our blender wasn’t good enough, and our juicer (well we won’t even share that terrible experience).
Whether you’re looking for a high power blender for the health conscious green smoothie lover, a multi-function appliance for the busy cook, or a versatile attachment for someone who already owns the iconic KitchenAid Artisan Stand Mixer, there’s bound to be an appliance or attachment in Kitchen Aid range to suit.
In fact, Kitchen Aid has over 95 years of experience in the kitchen arena, and has been a favourite brand to many households across the world.
KitchenAid presents cutting edge design and innovative technology that’s strong, reliable and versatile. There is a choice of appliances, ranging from kettles, toasters, blenders, or of course the stand mixer. Each product comes in a variety of colours and finishes to suit every home and interior.
The KitchenAid 4.8L Stand Mixer is available in Pebbled Palm (pictured above), a dusky dark green with a textured finish. The attachment bowl can be purchased either with a hand-crafted stainless-steel quilt effect bowl or a Gold Metallic finish. Standard accessories include a flat beater, dough hook and wire whisk – all you need to create festive showstoppers from Banana Cake, to pavlova, to a massive multi-tiered Birthday cake, sweet or savoury pasty and the list goes on.
For even more versatility there are 15 optional, dishwasher-safe, extras enabling everything from slicing, grating, mincing, chopping and peeling, to juicing and spiralizing. There are also tools to prepare fresh pasta and the dual purpose transparent pouring shield allows a clear view of what’s happening in the bowl while making it easy to add ingredients without splashing.
The entire collection can be viewed and purchased on the KitchenAid website.
05/10
NIXPLAY
Have you every wished you could spend time with family and other loved ones if it weren’t for the distance that keeps you apart? Well, this year that longing will be felt by many more families across the world due to the ongoing lockdown restrictions and the impact on travel and social mixing. But Hashtag Life has found the perfect way to enjoy your loved ones, and we promise it’s not another Zoom party.
In fact, we’re talking about Nixplay, created by Mark Palfreeman back in 2007, who wanted there to be a way for families to stay connected, privately, wherever they may be. Now Nixplay have launched next-generation smart frames with built in wifi and privacy settings.
Nixplay allows you the opportunity to showcase any photo, privately and securely, on any Nixplay smart photo frame, and share your photos with others to broadcast on their own Nixplay.
Nixplay Smart Photo Frame 9.7 inch, with Wi-Fi
- Extremely sharp resolution of 2048×1536 2K IPS display with 4:3 aspect ratio
- Comes with the ability to be free-standing or wall-mounted.
- A distinct and clean design, with a modern finish frame
- Gives you full control with the Nixplay App (iOS & Android), Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant
- Works with Google Photos, Dropbox, Facebook, and Instagram
- Magnetic Remote included
- Can play videos!
- One tree seed planted for every Nixplay Smart Frame sold!
The photos display illuminated and brightly, and the transitions are super smooth and professional, it’s like having a privately curated exhibition of your photos. It brightens up the room and pictures look absolutely crisp and stunning. To be honest I can’t think of a downside, if you love pictures and want to display them beautifully then it’s perfect.
The mobile app is fantastic and helps you share our best photos and moments together. The web interface is also excellent and easy to use, especially when organising multiple photo albums.
All Nixplay frames are available to purchase on www.nixplay.com as well as Amazon UK
06/07
POCKETALK
One of our most exciting travel-inspired recommendations for when travel plans can actually go to plan comes in the form of Pocketalk.
The Pocketalk S is the latest sleek translation device created by SourceNext, originally made for Japanese tourists, and now used worldwide! It is portable, handy and efficiently translates speech or text into 82 languages, making it what any traveller, tourist, or budding linguist has been looking for! Pocketalk S translates languages bi-directionally at the touch of a button.
It’s got a built-in SIM, a text-to-translate camera, a bigger touch screen, noise-cancelling microphones and two high-quality speakers plus a useful conversion feature. Put simply, this is an AI-powered instant voice translation device.
Why Hashtag Life will always take Pocketalk S on travels?
- It utilises the best translation engines to translate accurately, even including local dialects and slang (so it’s great for all us Brits).
- It’s great to use with strangers, friends and family but can even come in handy for more professional settings and business meetings.
- It easily translates voice conversations, but also it has a text-to-translate camera which instantly recognises and translates text, the written word and signs – ideal if you need help reading menus or are trying to explore new cities and can’t understand any signs!
When we all get travelling again it will make for the handiest companion – but why not start right here at home, especially for anyone learning a new language this year? Purchase come with 30 day moneyback guarantee and 2 years warranty.
Pocketalk S is available to purchase for £249.00 from www.amazon.co.uk.
07/07
ION.SEI
The ION-Sei Sonic Ionic Electric Toothbrush is a joint Japanese-German brand, and is aimed at fashionable, trendsetter people, and the families who demand more holistic and cutting-edge health. You get the Japanese technology and the German design for the avid dental hygiene person you might know!
The ION-Sei toothbrush comes in a handy ergonomic and lightweight product design that’s perfect for travelling with, and will fit into any handbags or briefcase for those always on the go. The most amazing feature about the ION-Sei is that it offers a different way of cleaning to most of the electric brushes on the market, in that you don’t need to use toothpaste!
So why no toothpaste, as you must be wondering?
Well, in short, the answer is because the well-established research and Japanese technology says so! In fact, the product is based on the age-old physics principle of “like charges repel”, which is known as ionic charge. The ION-Sei toothbrush conductor features a titanium dioxide bar, to which the brush head fits on to. The brush head also features an ultra-violet light. Then when you switch the ION-Sei on, the light and titanium dioxide bar work in tandem to produce ions (aka an electrical charge). These ions suppress bacterial growth. Ion-Sei simultaneously uses the patented technology to ensure plaque microbes are negatively charged, which in effect causes the microbes to bounce away. You can also add the black brush head to enhance the bacteria killing properties of the ION-Sei, which uses bristles that include silver ions and Bincho charcoal. The bristles have antibacterial properties, suppressing the growth of bacteria on the brush head, when not in use.
Other Features
- The toothbrush vibrates at 31,000 strokes per minute.
- There are 3 choices of brushing modes: sensitive, standard and deep-clean
- it has a built in 2-min reminder
- It comes with 2 different brush heads, but you can also purchase additional different heads depending on your dental needs
- It comes with a micros USB charger
- Available in a choice of body colours: moon grey, day white, lake blue.
