Welcome to the first installment of Mario Likes It, a series where two-time Emmy award-winning talk show host and lifestyle expert Mario Armstrong curates the best products for the entrepreneurial life. Here are his picks from the best gifts:
Why Mario likes it: “I haven’t heard any earbuds like this in a long time, and I test a lot of them. Here’s how it works. The earbuds sent out a chime to learn your ear canal’s unique shape. The chime bounces back and gets picked up by the built-in microphones so it can optimize noise cancellation and sound performance that fits your ear. They have a fit kit with a stabilizer and different ear tips. Plus the app is on fire. The bass on these sounds incredible. I love how I can silence all the background noise with one touch and the battery life gets up to six hours.”
Why Mario likes it: “It lets you go hands-free and do just about anything you like to do with your iPad. You can shoot video with it, position it for drawing, use it as a second screen — I love it. It will hold your iPad at eye level, which is perfect for FaceTime video calls or in the kitchen for those recipes. It also has a flexible arm and a weighted desktop base and a shelf clamp as well. And it’s got these rubbery contacts, so it’s not gonna mess up your surface. It’s available in black or matte white, and it’s dope.”
Why Mario likes it: “Coffee lovers, check this out. This is SPINN. It grinds whole beans to a precise consistency. The app lets you brew coffee with your phone or you can use Alexa voice. It gives you access to their marketplace of artisanal beans from all over the world and I also like the roast recognition feature. You can use your phone’s camera. Scan a bag of beans and it sends the precise brewing specifications to the coffee machine, calibrating it exactly as the roaster intended. There’s even a quiz on this app so you can get matched up with the right roast for you, and there are a ton of pre-programmed recipes. Even some great specials on here. Oh and zero waste too. Spin uses whole beans instead of plastic pods or filters.”
Why Mario likes it: “This is the first Kindle for reading and writing. It’s got a glare-free display and includes a basic pen. You can pull up notes, you can do journaling, to-do notes, anything. And when you write on this, it feels like you’re writing on paper. It is awesome. But what I really like about this is that you can actually write inside your favorite book. I like to write inside of books, and when you take these notes, you can actually export them.”