Best Tech Gifts 2015

Smartphones, smart watches, smart appliances: the world of tech and food are colliding like never before. These tech gifts are certain to help your loved one—or even you!—eat better, move more, and live a healthier life.

Jawbone’s stylish new UP2 and UP3 trackers are much more attractive than typical fitness bands, and they also help you track your movement, activity levels, and sleep. The UP3 band goes one step further and provides 24/7 heart health monitoring, which also helps provide more realistic calorie burn estimates. Even better, you can challenge your friends to a little competition so you’re all moving and burning just a bit more.

UP2 $100 and UP3 $180; jawbone.com

Amazon’s voice-activated, cloud-connected wireless speaker is the must-have tech item on most lists this year. The music streaming and audiobook playback are nice, but what we love most is the help it can be in the kitchen: “Alexa, set a timer for 20 minutes.” With that, you have a hands-free timer for your batch of cookies, ideal for when you’re fingers are coated in dough.

$180; amazon.com

Have pizza faster than you snap your fingers! Black & Decker’s 5-Minute Pizza Oven and Snack Maker delivers pizza from frozen to bubbling in just minutes, far faster than conventional ovens. It’s the perfect gift for a constantly on-the-go family who needs to make the most of every dinner minute.

$150; blackanddeckerappliances.com

Capresso’s Triple Brew can make a brew to suit your quantity needs: a single cup of coffee, a 42-ounce carafe, or a rapid-brew tea. A unique wide-brew head design extracts every speck of flavor from the beans or leaves. And if you’re worried about flavor transfer from coffee to tea, two reusable filters will keep your pours pure.

$180; capresso.com

For the grill master, a better way to monitor your meat: CDN’s Bluetooth-enabled thermometer and timer lets you track your food’s doneness right from the convenience of your phone. You can even share your cooking via your social networks or email.

$70; kitchenkapers.com

Garmin's newest touchscreen activity tracker features a large sunlight readable display and 24/7 heart monitoring in addition to counting steps, calories, and distance. What's more, the vivosmart HR counts floors climbed and tracks activity intensity for a more reliable calorie burn. Sync with your smarphone, and you can also receive real-time notifications from texts, calls, emails, and control your music while you break a sweat at the gym.

$150; garmin.com

For the ultimate coffee geek, OXO’s new Barista Brain Conical Burr Coffee Grinder with Integrated Scale measures beans and gives you the ideal grams-to-cup ratio of fresh grounds. If you don’t like their settings, you can create your own. Intuitive controls let you control almost every aspect of your grinding. Just make sure you get the brewing right, and you’ll have the best cup of coffee from the comfort of your own home.

$200; oxo.com

Take a trip to Italy without ever leaving your house. Nespresso’s new VertuoLine Evoluo brews your choice of Italian coffee classics (American, too) after a speedy 15 to 20 seconds heat-up time. A computerized scanning system gives you a perfectly blended cup every time.

$200; nespresso.com

Fresh, delicious DIY sparkling beverages are big gift list items this year. SodaStream is the leader in smart, innovative machines, and their newest, Power, is no different. You can use ordinary tap water, add fizz, and pour in your favorite flavoring options. You can also set your fizzy level: One of three buttons will supply your desired level of carbonation.

$150; sodastreamusa.com

If you are a fan of high-end counter appliances or just really awesome toasters, Wolf Gourmet has the toaster for you. The Wolf Gourmet 4-Slice Toaster keeps toast warm without drying it out or burning it while you finish cooking breakfast. It has large slots for those extra-wide slices of artisan bread and internal arms that snuggly hold a very thin slice of bread in place. And, if you forget to defrost your bread or your bagel, it will toast frozen, rock-hard slices or halves to perfection.

$400; subzero-wolf.com

For the serious fitness guru on your list, the Thermos Smart Lid (with accompanying app) helps them reach their optimized hydration level with gentle reminders and smart tracking. A sensor in the bottle reads the water’s temp and liquid level, and it monitors water consumption and reports back to an app on your phone. If it’s been a while since the last sip, it’ll prod you to drink up. Even better, the Smart Lid app syncs with your Fitbit account to keep your wellness goals moving along.

$60; thermos.com

For small and large ktichens alike, a do-it-all appliance like T-Fal’s 10-in-1 Multi-Cooker is a must-have. The pre-set programs help you turn out slow-cooker style meals, perfectly-cooked rice, creamy oatmeal, and even baked goods. The large 10-cup capacity is great for big families, too.

$100; bedbathandbeyond.com