5 Cool Gadgets Under $100 Actually Worth Buying

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It's always fun to go shopping for new gadgets on Amazon, whether for yourself or as a gift for a loved one. New advancements in technology are occurring all the time, and you can find all sorts of neat products like smart lights, chargers, projectors, and Bluetooth speakers. The only impediment to gadget shopping is hefty price tags, but if you know where to look, you can easily find plenty of interesting tech for less than $100.

If you browse around on Amazon, you'll find various forms of compact tech ranging from helpful tools to the next major component of your burgeoning home entertainment setup. While you probably won't be able to grab the latest, greatest, and most-advanced gadgets out there, if you keep your standards reasonable and your search conditions broad, you'll most definitely find cool products that make great gifts and personal indulgences like all of the following ones.

These gadgets are all readily available on Amazon, each with a before-sale price of less than $100, as well as a user rating of at least 4 out of 5 stars.

Setting up personalized lighting in your favorite room is nowhere near as complicated as it used to be. Rather than having to wire up your bedroom or living room for lightbulbs or placing lamps everywhere, you can get lighting in both color and shape that meets your particular needs with nothing but a single strip of flexible lighting. Specifically, the Govee Smart Neon Rope Light is available on Amazon for $69.99.

This variable-length lighting strip is made of a soft, flexible material, allowing you to bend and twist it into just about any shape you like. You can mold it into the contours of your ceiling for soft, even lighting, or twist it into the silhouette of your favorite characters. Once the strip is set up, you can connect to it via the Govee Home App, freely customizing its colors, brightness, patterns, and more. The strip can also be integrated with existing smart home setups like Amazon Alexa, allowing you to turn it on or off with voice commands.

At the time of writing, the Govee Smart Neon Rope Light is an Amazon's Choice product, with a 4.6 out of 5 star rating from users. Users like the light's easy setup and clean, even illumination effects, with one user calling it a must-buy for anyone looking to create custom ambient lighting.

A car charger is a great way to upgrade your car's power outlet, ensuring your smartphone and other gadgets can always stay topped off on the road. What's mildly annoying, though, is when you're not using the charger, leaving its cable dangling on the floor and getting dirty or in the way. For a space-conscious charger, try the Lisen Retractable Car Charger, available on Amazon for $24.99.

Like most car chargers, this one plugs into a typical 12V car outlet in order to charge devices via a USB-C connection. The difference is that this charger's integrated cable extends outwards up to 31.5 inches, and with a quick pull, retracts right back into the device for easy storage. In addition to its primary USB-C cable, the charger is also equipped with a Type L charging cable for certain models of Apple devices, as well as an open USB port and USB-C port for plugging in separate charging cables. All four of these charging avenues can be used simultaneously, perfect for keeping the whole family charged up on a long road trip.

The Lisen Retractable Car Charger has a 4.6 out of 5 user rating from Amazon shoppers, plus an Amazon's Choice badge. One user regularly uses both of the retractable cables with no difficulty, with two devices charging with impressive speed. Their only real complaint is that the charger is a bit bulky, but it can be tilted to make room if necessary.

Even with spring around the corner, it remains quite chilly out, which can make spending any extended time outdoors substantially less pleasant than you'd like. A good pair of gloves can help with that, but if that's not enough, a little extra technology can make up the difference. Take, for example, the Ocoopa Magnetic Hand Warmers, available on Amazon for $29.99.

This pair of compact devices provides up to 126 degrees Fahrenheit of soothing warmth, adjustable between three different temperature settings. They heat up in just five seconds, and can be used independently of one another or connected together via their rear magnets. They're small enough to slide into your gloves or sleeves, holding in place so you don't need to constantly adjust them. Both warmers are equipped with a temperature control chip for safety and have dust covers over their USB-C charging ports. It's a cheap USB gadget, but users swear by it.

The Ocoopa Magnetic Hand Warmers have earned a 4.6 out of 5-star rating, as well as an Amazon's Choice badge at the time of writing. One user was very impressed with their heating efficiency, especially after they were disappointed with disposable hand warmers on a vacation. Another user had similar praises, though they did note that the warmers take a little longer to charge up than they'd like.

A projector is a handy gadget for starting an impromptu watch party anywhere in your home, or even out of the home, like on a camping excursion. While a powerful projector would be nice for high-fidelity video, though, something like that probably wouldn't be particularly portable or affordable. For a projector that meets both of those needs a little better, try the Elephas Mini Projector, available on Amazon for $69.99.

This projector weighs only a single pound and measures in at 6.77 x 4.72 x 2.48 inches, both small and light enough to comfortably fit in a backpack and set up just about anywhere, thanks in part to its detachable mini tripod. Despite its size, it boasts full 1080p HD video, projecting a screen up to 200 inches across with 24-bit true color performance. Using the various ports in the back, you can plug in your smartphone or a compact streaming stick to enjoy your favorite shows and videos anywhere.

The Elephas Mini Project has a cumulative 4.1 out of 5 rating from Amazon shoppers, one of whom called it a perfect projector for both workouts and movie nights. They do note that the projector's integrated speaker is a little quiet, but with its various inputs, they could simply plug in an external speaker to remedy this.

It's nice to have a compact Bluetooth speaker handy, either for listening to your favorite music at your desk or providing some ambience while relaxing outdoors. For an extra cool factor, though, a Bluetooth speaker should also be a nifty, customizable decoration you can use to showcase your personal aesthetics. The Divoom Ditoo Pixel Art Bluetooth Speaker can do just that, and it's available on Amazon for $79.99.

This cute little speaker is cast in the image of a retro computer, complete with a monitor and six-button keyboard. It can be synced up to your smartphone or other Bluetooth-compatible devices to play your favorite music, as well as used as a digital clock, but in addition to that, the screen on the front contains a 16x16 pixel array that you can freely customize. The keyboard buttons let you scroll through various presets and adjust brightness and speaker volume, though with the help of the companion smartphone app, you can redesign the array from scratch or download patterns from other users.

The Divoom Ditoo Pixel Art Bluetooth Speaker is an Amazon's Choice product at the time of writing, having earned a healthy 4.6 out of 5 rating from users. One user noted that, compared to other Bluetooth speakers, its sound quality is only average, but added that its sheer breadth of features and functions makes it an excellent novelty gadget.

While finding cheap tech isn't hard, it is important to hold out for a degree of quality. It doesn't matter how cheap a gadget is if it breaks after the first time you use it, after all. To ensure the quality of all of these sub-$100 products, we focused specifically on those with an Amazon user rating of at least 4 out of 5 stars.