Easter has passed and so has Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, and New Year’s.  What’s next?  Ah yes, Mother’s Day!  I love Mother’s Day.  It’s the one holiday where I don’t need to do too much planning, just a little bit to ensure my Mother-in-Law is cared for.  Mother’s Day’s Day reminds us Moms to slow down a bit and soak in the enjoyment of having kids, marveling at how truly unique and special each of them are.

Mother’s Day is also a day of remembrance.  All of our hopes and dreams we have for ourselves and our children…before we had them…and how we have adjusted them after having kids.  Motherhood is indeed a sacrifice, but brings such joy.

There’s nothing like a great family Mother’s Day brunch or dinner together.  But if you’re looking to treat yourself or someone asks you what you’d like for Mother’s Day, we put together this Great Gadgets for Moms guide for some helpful tech to make your life easier…or at least more fun!

5 Great Gadgets for Moms

SCOTTeVEST RFID  Travel Vest

I absolutely love the SCOTTeVEST clothing line.  What does it have to do with technology?  Everything!  SCOTTeVEST hides pockets all throughout their clothes so keeping your smartphone, camera…even your iPad handy, has never been easier!  

We first tried the SCOTTeVEST Chloe jacket a couple of months ago.  We love it because of its ability to hold all of our gear and loved the lining in its pockets and cuffs.  In fact, we recommended the SCOTTeVEST Chloe jacket in our Christmas Gadget Guide for Moms.

With Summer coming up, we thought the SCOTTeVEST RFID Travel Vest would be a perfect travel companion.  The RFID Travel Vest has over 18 pockets, most hidden inside the vest.  Use these great pockets to organize your ID, passport, travel papers, cellphone, iPad, Kindle, books, maps, sunglasses, you name it!

Oh, and don’t worry about the filled pockets looking bulky, SCOTTeVEST engineered their clothing line so you don’t look like you’ve gained 25 lbs.!  The SCOTTeVEST RFID Travel Vest’s lightweight, breathable Teflon-treated fabric is machine washable and resists stains.  

Many times when traveling or going to a concert or festival, I don’t like to carry a purse since the potential for theft is greatly increased.  I love that you can carry all of your valuable tech and any needed papers “close to the cuff,” per se.

The SCOTTeVEST RFID Travel Vest is available through the SCOTTeVEST website in 4 colors for $135 plus shipping.  Just for Mother’s Day, SCOTTeVEST is offering a 30% discount on most of the women’s clothing line (though not this particular vest).  Just use the coupon code “MOM!” to get your discount.

Samsung Gear S2 Watch

If you’ve been reading Well Connected Mom for a while now, you know we love Samsung’s Gear watches.  Samsung makes great gadgets for moms from watches to tablets to phones.  Since Samsung’s first Gear watch in our article, 5 Reasons to Wear a Watch Again, Samsung has improved their watch 3 times; we’ve tried all three of them.  Samsung’s latest offering is the most visually stunning yet…and most compact.  They have bucked the rectangle digital watch tradition and created a beautifully designed round digital watch.  

The new Gear S2 Watch showcases a number of helpful features and available apps.  The Samsung Gear S2 connects to your phone via Bluetooth to notify you of incoming calls, impending appointments, email and text messages, social mentions, alarms, and any alerts from your apps.  

The Gear S2 is a more discreet way to keep up with your cellphone without being so obvious about it.  It’s also helpful when you’re phone is beyond arm’s reach or lost in the depths of your purse, you can still feel connected.

Through the use of the available apps, you can keep track of your steps, water/coffee intake, heart rate (with built-in sensor), hail an Uber car, check your favorite sports scores, be alerted if you’ve been outbid on eBay, find a good local restaurant on Yelp, pay for your coffee, or even use your watch as a walkie talkie (using Voxer)!  

I have found that the Samsung Gear S2 watch battery lasts for nearly the whole day, but it gives you the option to turn it to a black and white mode when it senses the battery is running low.

The Samsung Gear S2 Watch is available through Amazon for $289.99 for the silver or dark grey color.  Or, if you prefer a more dressy look, go for the Classic look in Rose Gold or Platinum for $449.99 plus free shipping through Amazon.

SPIRE

I’ve been using Spire for the past two weeks.  It’s a tracker you wear backwards on your waistband or bra.  By backwards, I mean the front of the SPIRE tracker faces your skin and the clip faces outward.  Why?  Because the beauty of Spire is that it tracks your breathing patterns.  I know, cool, huh?  It tracks your depth of breath, inhalation-to-exhalation ratio, durations of inhalation, retention, exhalation and hold, smoothness and more.  Based on algorithms, it determines when you have…

• Focus – when your breathing is medium speed yet consistent, while your body is staying still
• Activity – when you are walking or running for at least 2 minutes
• Calm –  when your breathing rhythm is slow and smooth, while your body is not moving
• Tension – When your breathing patterns are elevated and erratic, while your body is staying still

Spire will vibrate when you should perhaps take a deep breath or you’ve been tense for too long.  To help people understand their breath better and what a deep breath really is, the Spire app includes videos to help you learn more about your breathing and gives you exercises you can use daily to attain more focus, calmness, and clarity.

I learned that  I take my”deep breaths” to quickly.  Slowing down the process of taking a deep breath by inhaling and releasing more slowly can cause me to relax more.  Wearing the Spire tracker helps you to be more self-aware of your breathing.  You can actually look at the app and see your breath inhalation and exhalation live.  

Spire also tracks “streaks” which are longer periods of time that you spend in activity, calmness, or focused time.  The app congratulates you when you stay in a streak for a longer period of time.  Spire will also track your steps and give you calories burned, so it’s really a 2-in-1 tracker – tracking steps and breath!

The free Spire app is currently only available for iOS (iPhone 4S+, iPod Touch (5th gen), iPad (3rd + gen), iPad mini and Air.  An Android version will be available in the Summer.  One of the more unique gadgets for Mom, the Spire is available through their website for $149.95 or Amazon, including free shipping.

LUNA 2 

The new LUNA 2 from FOREO is a must-have for any woman’s cleansing routine.  The LUNA 2 is FOREO’s second generation face brush and anti-aging system that uses T-Sonic power to gently exfoliate dead skin cells, unclog your pores, and remove up to 99.5% of oil and dirt on your face.  

The LUNA 2 is made from an ultra-hygienic non porous silicone, designed to resist bacteria buildup.  In fact, the LUNA 2 is 35 times more hygienic than standard cleansing brushes.  The bristle brushes with attachments are really popular, but they can be abrasive to the face and are magnets for bacteria.

The LUNA 2 comes in 4 types – each to provide a more tailor-made skin care experience dependent upon your needs.  The silicone points are so gentle and soothing are different depending upon whether you buy the LUNA 2 for:

• Normal Skin
• Oily Skin
• Sensitive Skin
• Combination Skin

The whole routine of cleansing and anti-aging takes 2 minutes.  I have used the original LUNA since we reviewed it 2 years ago and it is a fantastic, well-thought out device.  I keep it in my shower, as it is completely waterproof.  The LUNA 2 will give you up to 450 uses per charge, so its battery lasts a long time.  I rarely need to charge it. 

The LUNA 2 is even more robust than the original LUNA, offering a larger brush area, larger, more pronounced anti-aging ripples, a quieter experience, and a more effective technology at keeping your face clean and cared for.  

Since using LUNA and LUNA 2, I rarely have breakouts, my face color is more even, and my skin feels really good.  LUNA is one of those great gadgets for Moms that will be used everyday.  

The LUNA 2 sells for $199 on the FOREO website and includes free shipping.  It’s a little pricey, but well worth it in the long run.

Flip-Pal with Wireless 

Flip-Pal is a 1 1/2 lb. mobile scanner that makes scanning in pictures, photo albums, coins, jewelry, fragile records, recipes, medals, artwork, fabrics, documents, and even quilts easy, without the traditional scanner issues.  Flip-Pal is different than other scanners in that it is…

• Completely Mobile – it does not need to be attached to a computer and  there are no wires (uses 4 AA batteries) – you can take it anywhere with you
• Versatile – you do not need to take photos out of an album to scan them – Scan-Pal uses pass-through glass so you simply place Scan-Pal on top of the memory you want to scan
• Captures Larger Images – with its pass-through glass feature, Scan-Pal can be used to scan a section at a time of a large document, fabric, artwork, etc. then, using the included software, you can stitch together the pieces (automatically) to show the entire document, fabric, artwork as a whole
• Can Make your Memory into a Living Picture – using the and the Story Scans activation (Windows/Mac) and/or app (Android/Apple), where you can add voice to your picture
• Wireless Option – with the wireless upgrade (using a Eye-Fi Wireless SD card)  – you can have your scans automatically sent to your phone so you can add voice to them or share them through email or through your social channels

The Flip-Pal makes a perfect Mother’s Day gift because it speaks to a Mom’s desire to preserve family moments of time for herself, her kids, and for later generations.  

It is also a fantastic tool for documenting your parents’ or in-laws’ history.  I remember the hours I scanning in photos and video taping my Mom and Mother-in-Law about their childhood, marriage, jobs, and kids.  I then typed up their video interview and created a book from their memories.  How awesome it would have been to show them a photo and record their voice and intonations as they recounted their memories.

Whether it’s enlivening pictures from the past, sending the grandparents pictures of your child’s artwork with his/her own narration, or even sending out unique party invitations, Moms are going to love the versatility and flexibility of the Flip-Pal.  Scan pictures in 300 dpi or 600 dpi, with each file ending up around 1.6 MB.  Scanning couldn’t be easier with Flip-Pal’s one button simple scan and its 1.7 inch LCD preview screen.

Flip-Pal is available directly through  their website.  We recommend the Flip-Pal 100C for $149.99 and choose the wireless upgrade with Story Scans activation for $24.99  so that your Eye-Fi SD card can automatically upload pictures from your scanner to your phone or computer.

Great gadget for Moms, huh?  We have tested and tried all of these unique products and have really seen the relevance and effectiveness that they provide for Moms.  You can’t go wrong with any one of them.  Looking for more great gadgets for Moms?  See our Guide from last year!

Which of these 5 great gadgets for Moms do you think you could use the most?  

Happy Mother’s Day!

 *  We were given each of these products upon our request for consideration for our Mother’s Day Gift Guide.  All opinions are our own.