Best Gadget Gifts for Moms That You Can Buy in the Philippines

Are you planning to give your techy mom a cool gadget gift this Mother's Day? This post for you.

My mom is pretty techie herself. She loves playing casual games and snapping groufies with me and my younger brother using her smartphone. In fact, I think I got my love of gadgets from her -- or is it the other way around? Hmm. Anyway, like most of you, I'm now also trying to choose which new electronic items I should give her as present on this special day. I thought I'd share this list with you for inspiration.

1. Beautiful New Smartphone with Good Front Cam for Selfies and Powerful Rear Camera That Performs Well in Low Light

These days, smartphones - especially those in the upper midrange to high-end price brackets - can already work as a digital camera substitute. If your mom also loves taking photos of food or landscape and even selfies, you might want to give her a new cameraphone that she'd be proud to carry around whether at home, in the office, or when she's with you or her friends. My current recommendation for this is the OPPO F3, which sells in the Philippines for Php 16,990. I'm sure she'll love the Dual Front-Facing Camera feature with secondary wide-angle lens for great groufie shots.

2. A Sleek and Light Ultrabook That's Easy To Carry Around

As empowered women, our moms take on many roles. If your mom has a career that requires her to work on documents or to be online regularly, you might want to get her a slim and powerful laptop that she can easily travel with. Right now, my favorite ultrabook is the Php 69,990 Acer Swift 7, which still holds the record as the Thinnest Laptop in the World Today.

3. A Posh and Classy Fitness Tracker

Help your mom stay active and healthy by giving her a Fitness Tracker. My mom recently told me that my Fitbit Blaze looks amazing so I'm now thinking of getting her a Fitbit Alta HR, which is just as reliable but more feminine looking and more affordable at just Php 8,490.

4. A High-Capacity Powerbank with Extra Function

Many powerbanks with 10,000 mAh capacity are now flooding the market. If you're planning to give one to your mom, then I would suggest picking a model that has an extra functionality just to make her feel more special. For instance, you can choose the Php 995 Jumpu Duo that already has built-in microUSB and Lightning cables so your mom won't have to carry those wires separately.

You might also want to check out Jaguar Powerbank with Large LED Torchlight, which is available at Kimstore for just Php 550, as well the Asus ZenPower 2 with Flashlight that goes for Php 750 at some gadget shops in malls. Our moms are the light of our lives and I'm sure that they'll appreciate having any of these two powerbanks in their bags or pouches.

5. Cute, Colorful Earphones with Good Sound Quality

My mom loves watching music videos and TV series on her smartphone so I thought of getting this colorful Japan-made pair for her. I got it at Elecom for only Php 900 and what's nice is that its sound quality is already comparable to that of Apple Earpods, which is more expensive, and it already has tangle-resistant flat wires, four pairs of ear caps, and it even comes with a free cord keeper! Sweet, right?

So there you have it! For me, these are the best gadgets that we can give our moms this year. Do you have additional recommendations or suggestions? Feel free to to share them with us via our Facebook comments section below. Thanks!

Acer Swift 7 Specs and Price Check : Unboxing The Thinnest Laptop in the World

Given my profession as a blogger, editor, as well as PR and Digital Marketing consultant, I definitely need an ultrabook that's not only very portable but is also capable delivering decent performance on the go. And it certainly won't hurt if it's also downright gorgeous.

That's why I instantly fell in love with the new Acer Swift 7 when it was officially unveiled by the company in August 2016 at IFA in Germany.

Flaunting a sleek anodized aluminum shell, the extremely thin Acer Swift 7 is one of the most beautiful laptops ever released.

Measuring just 9.89 millimeters at its thickest point, Acer Swift 7 is the thinnest laptop in the world today -- officially eclipsing a long-standing record previously held by the ultra-slim Dell Adamo XPS.

More importantly, however, this 2.5-pound beast also has sterling technical specifications that make it a great companion for consumers who want to be extra productive even while they're out and about.

Filled with overwhelming desire to have Acer Swift 7 as a work and play companion (as well as to include it in my personal gadget collection), I acquired a unit back in December 2016 as soon as it was formally launched in the Philippines.

Before I give you my full review of the device, allow me to share these unboxing photos -- just to give you an idea of what you'll get should you decide to also purchase it.

Primary unboxing tool: Swiss Knife

Just like most other notebooks, Acer Swift 7 has in this brown carton outer box for added protection during shipment.

The ultrabook's black box with gold accents match the design of the unit inside.

The entire packaging is made completely of paper and has a small footprint, which is good for the environment.

The laptop's technical specifications are printed on a sticker found at the bottom of the box.

There's only one version of the Acer Swift 7 in the Philippines and it has an official suggested retail price of Php 64,990. This model has the following technical specifications:

• 13.3-inch Full HD Acer CrystalBrite IPS LCD display
• 7th Generation Kaby Lake Intel Core i5-7Y54 CPU
• Intel HD Graphics 615
• 8GB of LP DD3 RAM
• 256 GB SSD storage
• HD camera
• 4-cell Li-Ion Battery, 2,770 mAh
• Two USB Type C ports
• WiFi 802.11ac
• Bluetooth
• Windows 10 Home operating system

Acer Swift 7 is powered by the new seventh generation Kaby Lake Intel Core i5-7Y54 processor with clock speed of 1.2 GHz, which can be boosted to 3.2 GHz. This CPU is essentially an upgrade to the Intel Core M Broadwell and Core m Skylake chips but the company gave it its Core i5 nomenclature to reflect an overall considerable performance enhancement. Not only is Core i5-7Y54 more powerful but it is also more energy efficient than its predecessors.

Lifting the cover, we are greeted by the svelte unit wrapped in transparent plastic.

Ah, look at how slim that is!

Now, let's take a look at all the items included in the package.

Of course, there's the travel charger, which connects to the notebook's USB Type C port. This supports a three-prong port so if you're using it here in the Philippines you'll have to get an adapter.

Being so thin, Acer Swift 7 only has three ports: A 3.5mm audio jack and two USB Type C ports.

Good thing, each unit ships with dongles -- like this one for HDMI...

... as well as one for USB 3.0

Of course, you also get an international warranty certificate and a product guide or user manual.

Alright! Let's take off the plastic cover.

As I've said, Acer Swift 7's body is crafted from anodized aluminum. The top and bottom plates are painted Black while the mid-frame including the palm rest, trackpad, and the hinge are painted Gold.

Slimmer than the latest Apple Macbook, Acer Swift 7 truly sets the bar high in terms of ultrabook aesthetics and construction.

Alright! That's it for now. Stay tuned for my full review of this stunning headturner of a laptop.