Your auld wan isn’t the same auld wan you were buying for a few years back. The Irish mammy of today might still believe there’s great drying out and have an amazing ability to plate up sandwiches in the blink of an eye, but she’s also much more tech saavy. My own mother enjoys the odd gadget here and there too, so today I’m going to smugly recommend some more tech-led gift ideas for mother’s day this year.
Keep in Touch: Amazon Echo Spot
One of the most popular gifts these days is anything with a bit of Amazon power. People would appear to be falling head over heels to have an Alexa assistant in their lives. The Amazon Echo Spot is another one of these devices with a particular trick up its sleeve. The Spot has a screen and a front-facing camera on it.
Why is this so good?
Well, my own mother and myself tend to video call more and more these days. Sometimes it’s WhatsApp but because I got her an Echo Spot, I can just drop into the sitting room and say hi. Dropping in is an Amazon specific feature where no-one has to pick up; my face just rather creepily appears in the sitting room.
While my own mam is fairly up to date with tech and capable of answering video calls, the Amazon Echo Spot is a great way to introduce video calling to a less techie mammy. You don’t need to have another device either as you can simply drop in from your smartphone using the Amazon Alexa App.
You can pick up an Echo Spot from Amazon.co.uk for €140.
A New Phone: The Huawei P smart 2019
Mammys don’t want the old Nokia feature phones anymore. Mammys want to take pictures, share them on WhatsApp and even check emails or Facebook.
At the same time, Mammys don’t want you breaking the bank for mother’s day. So if you want to get your mammy a new smartphone this year without being hit by “ah now, that’s too much you shouldn’t have done that”, why not pick her up a Huawei P smart 2019.
Honestly, when I saw this phone for the first time I did one of those comical double takes.
The specs versus the price just doesn’t make sense at all. For example, you can pick up the Huawei P smart 2019 from Three Ireland on prepay for just €199.99. For that you get an AI-powered dual lens primary camera, a battery that’s plenty big with a 6.21-inch screen to match. Decent smartphones no longer have to be “mother angeringly expensive”.
Read the Signs: Get Her a Kindle
This is another tried and tested winner from the gadgets Marty’s mammy loves. The Kindle e-book reader has been a staple gadget from Amazon for years now. In recent years they’ve improved massively too, with users particularly liking the built-in screen lights which make it easier to read.
Kindle is also an empowering gift if your mother has hung up the reading glasses, cursing small print for ruining the reading experience. With Kindle you can zoom in and make the text bigger, ensuring your mammy can read easier than ever.
Kindle is available from Amazon.co.uk, starting around €85.
So there you have it. Not every mammy wants to be wined and dined with a trip out for afternoon tea. Leave your options open for some of this long-lasting gadgets instead.
