Apple’s new iPhone X achieves many firsts for the iPhone line: the first OLED screen, the first facial recognition technology, and the first wireless charging system. It’s also the first major redesign of the iPhone’s exterior since the iPhone 6 came out in 2014. That means that iPhone X owners on your holiday shopping list may be in need of all kinds of extras to equip their phone. Here are a few suggestions:
Wireless charger
As noted, the new glass-backed iPhone X is Apple’s first model that can be charged without plugging in a cable. Apple chose to go with an industry standard for wireless charging called Qi, meaning that there are already a variety of compatible options for charging pads. But one problem that some users report with wireless charging is that the iPhone can wiggle its way off the pad’s sweet spot when an incoming notification causes a vibration alert. That can’t happen with the well-designed and sharp-looking Spigen Essential F303W charger. It keeps the iPhone X at an angle and on a shelf, using the power of gravity to keep vibrations from shaking the phone out of position.
Camera accessories
The iPhone X has two cameras on the rear, one normal and one telephoto for zooming in. On other phones, the second camera has a wide-angle lens instead of a telephoto. But you don’t have to be stuck with Apple’s decision. Moment makes an absurdly beautiful and useful add-on lens that clamps to the back of the iPhone X when desired. Their new wide-angle lens costs $100 (although it also requires Moment’s $30 mounting case). It grabs twice as much of the scene as the iPhone’s standard lens, making for better landscape shots, group photos and the like.
Sure, the kids are all posting their photos to Instagram or Snapchat, but grown ups like to see a print now and then. There are a couple of choices of portable photo printers that rely on Polaroid’s old-fashioned instant developing technology. The Fujifilm INSTAX SHARE SP-2 Smart Phone Printer is particularly great. It uses a rechargeable battery, so you can print on the go, and connects to a phone over Wi-Fi for speedy transfers. The photos, which take 10 seconds to print, aren’t spectacular at a resolution of 320 dpi, but they still provide a way to make those photographic memories non-digital.
External speakers
The iPhone X lets you carry millions of songs in your pocket, thanks to streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music. Headphones are great, but when you want to get the whole room dancing, a portable wireless speaker is the thing. Logitech’s Ultimate Ears makes a great line of speakers of all sizes, but the sweet spot is probably the 7-inch high, 1.2 lb. Boom 2 speaker for about $140. It comes in a bunch of colors and has a built-in battery that lasts 15 hours.
iPhone cases
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of choices for cases for the iPhone X. Speck’s lineup is high quality and offers a wide variety of colors, materials, and styles. Check out the grippy CandyShell line, available in a couple of color combos, or the less dazzling but equally easy to hold onto Grip line in seven colors, include plain old black.
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