December 2025's Best Gadgets: Drones, Rings, Earbuds

• Key takeaways: December 2025 shipped a wide variety of notable gadgets, from 360° drones to affordable ANC earbuds.
• Notable value picks include Soundpeats Air5 Pro+ ($130) and JLab Epic Pods ANC ($100) for battery and noise cancellation.
• Novelty and niche products stood out: Antigravity A1’s 360 camera drone, Pebble’s battery-free Index 01 smart ring, and Robosen’s $1,400 Soundwave collectible speaker.
• Look ahead: CES 2026 promises more TVs, AR glasses, and AI-enabled devices — but expect component shortages and price pressure.

What stood out in December

December’s roundup leaned into two trends: practical value and creative novelty. Affordable audio gear and longevity-focused earbuds offered immediate wins for holiday shoppers. At the same time, experimental devices — a 360° camera drone and a stainless-steel smart ring — reminded us manufacturers still prioritize surprise and showmanship.

Audio and battery champions

Soundpeats’ Air5 Pro+ proved strong value at roughly $130, delivering clear sound and surprisingly effective active noise cancellation for the price. JLab’s Epic Pods ANC focused on endurance: about 13 hours per charge outside the case and a combined 50 hours with the charging case.

On the extreme end, Robosen’s Soundwave is a high-end collector’s item that transforms into a tape-deck-shaped Bluetooth speaker — priced near $1,400 — prioritizing novelty over mass-market value.

Drones, cameras, and immersive gear

Antigravity’s A1 bucks conventional drone design with a 360° camera and AR headset pairing to create a floating, panoramic flying experience. Its aim-and-fly controller also lowers the learning curve for newcomers, making immersive aerial capture more approachable.

Mobile accessories and e-notetakers

MCON’s MagSafe-powered pop-out mobile controller emphasizes portability, turning a phone into a playable console without committing to full-size ergonomics. For readers and note-takers, Boox’s Note Air 5C brought a color E Ink display with 4,096 colors and a strong stylus experience, trading raw speed for lower-power reading and annotation.

Retro, niche, and personal gadgets

Epilogue’s SN Operator offers a compact way to play and archive Super Nintendo cartridges on PC or Steam Deck for about $60. The Snowsky Disc revived MP3-player design with dual headphone jacks and support up to 2TB microSD storage. Pebble’s Index 01 smart ring targets analog simplicity: a physical record button with no cloud streaming and a recyclable, non-rechargeable battery approach.

Warnings and market signals

Not every buzzy product impressed — a tested “AI translator” proved unreliable, and its maker even asked outlets not to publish reviews. Meanwhile, industry-wide RAM shortages tied to AI data centers are expected to push components and device prices higher in 2026.

Looking ahead to CES 2026

LG, Samsung, and others are gearing up to unveil new TVs, monitors, AR glasses, and AI-driven gadgets. Expect a flood of prototypes and incremental improvements — and remember to separate marketing claims from real-world performance.