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Peloton Bike+

 & Chandra Steele Senior Features Writer

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The gift of health is truly the best gift. This gift guide has some fitness tech that takes into account the mind, body, and soul of the recipient. There's an orb to guide meditation, some help for those who have trouble sleeping, a cycle for those who miss SoulCycle, and more.

You might see something you like on this list, too, in which case, sharing is caring, so send it to the not-so-secret Santa in your life.

Peloton Bike+

Peloton puts a virtual workout studio into homes with the Bike+. It has a built-in speaker system and larger screen than its predecessor, which rotates to make it easier to follow along with all the off-bike classes Peloton offers. It's among our picks for The Best Smart Home Gym Equipment for 2021.

Caraa Romulus and Caraa Studio Bag

People keep fit for all sorts of reasons and one of them is to look good. But nobody looks good when they're schlepping their work bag, their gym bag, and their lunch bag through the streets. Caraa has solved this with bags that separate laptops, lunches, gym shoes, and purse essentials. There are lots of styles, like the Romulus (left), which is geared toward men, and the Studio (right), which is made to go from being a backpack to a tote to a satchel for women on the move.

BenjiLock Fingerprint Sport Padlock

For those who are forever forgetting their locker combination, there's the fingerprint-protected BenjiLock Padlock.

Banjees

Fanny packs are back in fashion, but they're not the most useful thing when keeping fit. Banjees can hold a phone, keys, earphones, cash, and more in two separate compartments that fit snug around a wrist. They come in cute and colorful options. Also there's the fun of saying Banjees.

HelloFresh

Cooking healthy meals can be a challenge, like a Food Network challenge you just can't win. HelloFresh gives cooks a distinct advantage with already measured and partially prepped ingredients and easy-to-follow instructions for nutritious, well-balanced meals.

Withings Sleep Tracking Mat

Your quality and quantity of sleep has a tremendous impact on your health. Yet it's such a hard thing to gauge from an anecdotal perspective. The Withings Sleep is a sleep-sensing pad that quantifies how much and how good a person's sleep is and guides them in how to improve it.

Fitbit Charge 4

There are so many fitness trackers now that it's nearly impossible to keep track of them all, but the Fitbit Charge 4 is one of the best. It features standalone GPS, Spotify support, sleep tools, and Fitbit Pay, making it the best everyday fitness tracker for casual users.

Tangram Smart Rope

The Tangram Smart Rope is a simple, effective way to get in shape and it has a snazzy secret. Embedded LEDs display stats in midair when it's in use. The Smart Gym app it comes with also stores all info so they never miss a step.

BlendJet 2

They can make smoothies and shakes anywhere with the BlendJet 2. It blends on the go and recharges via USB.

Nurvv Run Insoles

The runner in your life is sure to appreciate Nurvv Run Insoles. They give feedback and guidance on cadence, step length, foot strike, pronation and balance.

Jabra Elite Active 75t

Jabra's Elite Active 75t earphones improve upon the original pair with a more secure fit and a waterproof design for a real true wireless winner. They're one of The Best True Wireless Earbuds for Running.

Mini Electric Shaver

Shaving post-workout is fast and easy with the wireless Mini Electric Shaver. It charges via USB.

obé Fitness

If you don't have the room or the budget for smart gym equipment, an obé Fitness membership is a good gift whether they're a workout novice or a gym rat. For a monthly fee, they can take unlimited live and on-demand HIIT, dance, sculpt, yoga, pilates, cardio boxing, barre, and other classes from their phone, tablet, or streaming device.

Nike Adapt BB2.0

Self-lacing sneakers are finally here. The Nike Adapt BB 2.0 are more than just a gimmick. They tighten at the touch of a button and with the accompany app, can remember preferred fits.

Core Meditation Trainer

Focusing during meditation can be, well, distracting. The Core Meditation Trainer uses biometric data and feedback through vibrations to improve their meditation practice.

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About Our Expert

Chandra Steele

Chandra Steele

Senior Features Writer

My Experience

My title is Senior Features Writer, which is a license to write about absolutely anything if I can connect it to technology (I can). I’ve been at PCMag since 2011 and have covered the surveillance state, vaccination cards, ghost guns, voting, ISIS, art, fashion, film, design, gender bias, and more. You might have seen me on TV talking about these topics or heard me on your commute home on the radio or a podcast. Or maybe you’ve just seen my Bernie meme

I strive to explain topics that you might come across in the news but not fully understand, such as NFTs and meme stocks. I’ve had the pleasure of talking tech with Jeff Goldblum, Ang Lee, and other celebrities who have brought a different perspective to it. I put great care into writing gift guides and am always touched by the notes I get from people who’ve used them to choose presents that have been well-received. Though I love that I get to write about the tech industry every day, it’s touched by gender, racial, and socioeconomic inequality and I try to bring these topics to light. 

Outside of PCMag, I write fiction, poetry, humor, and essays on culture.

My Areas of Expertise

  • Making incomprehensible tech news easy to understand
  • Expanding the boundaries of topics covered in the industry
  • Figuring out tips and tricks in apps and on devices and letting you know about them
  • Putting together gift guides for everyone in your life 

The Technology I Use

All that gadgets is gold for me: my iPhone 11 Pro, my fifth-generation iPad that I use only for streaming videos and music, my iPad mini 4 that I like to take with me whenever I carry a bag that can fit it, and my MacBook Pro. Why are they all different shades of gold, though? What’s going on, Apple? 

None of them quite live up to my two past loves: my LG Lotus LX600 phone and my Sony Walkman NW-E005 MP3 player. 

I've never given up wired earbuds so I was ahead of all those trend pieces. I use a Mangotek Lightning-to-3.5mm headphone jack adapter to connect them to my phone. 

I have had so many ebook readers, but I prefer paper to them all. Still, my Kindle Paperwhite is perfect for traveling or when I’m too impatient to wait for a book to be released in paperback.

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