5 Cool Gadgets Under $100 That You Really Should Buy

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It’s always fun to shop for new gadgets on Amazon, either for yourself or as a gift for a loved one. New technological advancements are happening all the time, and you can find all kinds of neat products like smart lights, chargers, projectors, and Bluetooth speakers. The only obstacle to buying a gadget is the high price tag, but if you know where to look, you can easily find a lot of interesting technology for under $100.

When you browse Amazon, you’ll find a wide variety of integrated technology from useful tools to the next big part of your growing home entertainment setup. While you may not be able to grab the latest, greatest, and most advanced gadgets out there, if you keep your standards reasonable and your search conditions broad, you’re bound to find cool products that make great gifts and personal indulgences like the following.

These gadgets are all easily available on Amazon, each with a pre-sale price of less than $100, and a user rating of at least 4 out of 5 stars.

Setting up personal lights in your favorite room is not as easy as it used to be. Rather than wiring your bedroom or living room for lights or placing lights all over the place, you can find lighting in both color and shape that meets your specific needs with just one flexible lighting strip. Specifically, the Govee Smart Neon Rope Light is available on Amazon for $69.99.

This variable length lighting strip is made of a soft, flexible material, allowing you to bend and twist it into almost any shape you like. You can shape it into the contour of the ceiling for a soft, even light, or twist it into the silhouette of your favorite characters. Once the strip is set up, you can connect to it through the Govee Home app, automatically set its colors, lighting, patterns, and more. The line can also be integrated with existing smart home settings such as Amazon Alexa, allowing you to turn it on or off with voice commands.

At the time of writing, the Govee Smart Neon Rope Light is an Amazon’s Choice product, with a rating of 4.6 out of 5 stars from users. Users love the easy and clean lighting setup, even the lighting effects, which one user called a must-buy for anyone looking to create custom ambient lighting.

A car charger is a great way to boost your car’s power supply, ensuring that your smartphone and other gadgets can stay powered up on the road. What’s a little annoying though, is when you’re not using the charger, you leave its cable hanging on the floor and getting dirty or in the way. For a space-conscious charger, try the Lisen Retractable Car Charger, available on Amazon for $24.99.

Like most car chargers, this one plugs into a standard 12V car outlet to charge devices via a USB-C connection. The difference is that the integrated cable of this charger extends outwards up to 31.5 inches, and with a quick pull, it retracts right back into the device for easy storage. In addition to its main USB-C cable, the charger is also equipped with an L-type charging cable for certain models of Apple devices, as well as an open USB port and a USB-C port for connecting different charging cables. All four of these charging methods can be used at the same time, perfect for keeping the whole family charged on long road trips.

The Lisen Retractable Car Charger has a user rating of 4.6 out of 5 from Amazon buyers, and an Amazon’s Choice badge. A single user often uses both retractable cables without difficulty, and the two devices charge at incredible speeds. Their only real complaint is that the charger is too small, but it can be tilted to make room if necessary.

Even though spring is right around the corner, it’s still pretty cold, which can make spending any extra time outside a lot less fun than you’d like. A good pair of gloves can help with that, but if that’s not enough, a little extra technology can make all the difference. Take, for example, the Ocoopa Magnetic Hand Warmers, available on Amazon for $29.99.

This pair of compact devices offers up to 126 degrees Fahrenheit of gentle warmth, adjustable between three different temperature settings. They heat up in just five seconds, and can be used independently or connected together with their magnetic back. They’re small enough to fit in your gloves or sleeves, holding them so you don’t have to adjust them often. Both heaters are equipped with a temperature control chip for safety and have dust holes over their USB-C charging ports. It’s a cheap USB gadget, but users swear by it.

Ocoopa Magnetic Hand Warmers have earned a 4.6 out of 5-star rating, and an Amazon’s Choice badge at the time of writing. One user was very impressed with their heating efficiency, especially after being disappointed with disposable hand warmers on vacation. Another user had a similar recommendation, although they noted that the heaters took longer to charge than they would have liked.

A projector is a handy gadget to start an unprecedented watch party anywhere in your home, or even outside the home, like on a camping trip. While a powerful projector would be great for high-fidelity video, however, something like that wouldn’t be as portable or affordable. For a projector that meets both of those needs a little better, try the Elephas Mini Projector, available on Amazon for $69.99.

This projector weighs only one pound and measures in at 6.77 x 4.72 x 2.48 inches, both small and light enough to fit comfortably in a backpack and set up almost anywhere, thanks in part to its small detachable tripod. Despite its size, it has full 1080p HD video, displaying a screen up to 200 inches wide with 24-bit true color performance. Using the various ports on the back, you can connect your smartphone or a compact streaming stick to enjoy your favorite shows and videos anywhere.

The Elephas Mini Project has a combined rating of 4.1 out of 5 from Amazon buyers, one of whom called it the perfect projector for both workouts and movie nights. They note that the projector’s built-in speaker is a bit quiet, but with its various inputs, they can simply plug in an external speaker to fix this.

It’s great to have a compact Bluetooth speaker nearby, whether it’s to listen to your favorite music at your desk or to give you a place to stand while relaxing outside. For something cool, though, a Bluetooth speaker should also be a beautiful, customizable accessory that you can use to show off your personal aesthetic. The Divoom Ditoo Pixel Art Bluetooth Speaker can do just that, and it’s available on Amazon for $79.99.

This cute little speaker is modeled after a retro computer, complete with a monitor and a six-button keyboard. It can be synced to your smartphone or other Bluetooth-compatible devices to play your favorite music, and be used as a digital watch, but in addition, the front screen contains a 16×16 pixel array that you can freely customize. The keyboard buttons allow you to scroll between various presets and adjust the brightness and volume of the speaker, although with the help of the accompanying smartphone app, you can rearrange the array from scratch or download patterns from other users.

The Divoom Ditoo Pixel Art Bluetooth Speaker is an Amazon Choice product at the time of writing, having earned a healthy rating of 4.6 out of 5 from users. One user noted that, compared to other Bluetooth speakers, its sound quality is only average, but added that its range of features and functions make it a top-notch gadget.

Although finding cheap technology is not difficult, it is important to hold to a certain level of quality. It doesn’t matter how cheap a gadget is if it breaks after the first use, after all. To ensure the quality of all these products under $100, we focus on those with an Amazon user rating of at least 4 out of 5 stars.