Indispensable, necessary or superfluous? Faced with many gadgets electronic devices that can unnecessarily clutter our suitcases during the summer holidays, other equipment, sometimes unknown, can sometimes prove to be very useful. smart translator, trackingnomadic safe… A few days before the first summer migrations, “20 Minutes” slips into your backpack some finds that you will soon not want to do without!
To translate your conversations: the Pocket Talk Plus translator from Motion Talk
No need to carry a dictionary of the local language with you when traveling abroad. The pocket translator Pocket Talk Plus of Motion Talk plays the interpreters.
Integrating 82 languages, the small device (12.2 x 6.6 x 1.14 cm) is very simple to use: just choose the language you want to translate and the one into which you want to translate it. All that remains is to press the central button and speak and the device will run, display the translation, but also speak it. It comes with a SIM card that allows translation in 130 countries free of charge for 2 years. 299 euros.
Our opinion : Faced with the translation possibilities offered by certain smartphones, such as Google’s Pixel 6, this solution remains more ergonomic and practical. Able to translate a conversation lasting more than 5 hours continuously, the small accessory can appeal to both tourists and professionals. It now has a camera, allowing it to translate signs, posters, menus, texts…
To pay without cash: the Fyve bracelet from Transcash
With the payment bracelet FYVE Mastercard, paying for small purchases (up to 50 euros) does not require you to carry a bank card, cash, smartphone and even less a connected watch.
NFC, equipped with a payment chip, you just have to approach the front of the bracelet of a payment terminal to pay at the bakery, at the newsstand, at the local convenience store or in a club. 20 euros (with 5 euros preloaded).
Our opinion : Available at the beginning of July in tobacconists/press offices, this bracelet cashless » in silicone is available in 8 colours. His card can be recharged simply with the Transcash Mastercard mobile application or on the transvase.fr website. It is certainly a reliable and secure means of payment for outings or for children. But the principle is not new, there are others, similar, in particular developed by Paypal for the summer festivals.
To protect your belongings at the beach: the UpLock safe from UpFiner
Where to put keys, wallet, smartphone, jewellery… when you’re at the beach? Answer: in a nomadic safe! This is what UpLock from the start-up UpFiner.
Either a secure and waterproof case measuring 16 x 25 x 5 cm and weighing 550 grams, with a capacity of 1.2 litres. Running on two AA batteries and locking and unlocking using a touchpad, UpLock is equipped with a theft detection system and an alarm that goes off when someone grabs it . 129 euros.
Our opinion : Undoubtedly, this chest meets many expectations. Designed, developed and made in France (in Occitania), it materializes a great idea that can reassure with its 85 db alarm (the sound level of a classic house alarm). But impossible to find the safe if it is stolen, this solution not being equipped with a GPS beacon. Undoubtedly a track to be developed by the young Toulouse start-up UpFiner!
To find everything: Apple’s Air Tag
In the shape of a 2 euro coin, this small tracker is the ultimate tool for the dizzy to find their belongings (small objects, bags, suitcases, etc.).
Configurable in one minute with an iPhone, the accessory then allows you to find everything… to within a few centimeters. Each AirTag can be named (keys, wallet, etc.), then found wherever it is. For this, Apple uses its fleet of hundreds of millions of smartphones so that any tag sought can be detected. The builder’s Plan application then takes care of guiding the owner to his little tracker and the corresponding object. 35 euros each, 119 euros for four.
Our opinion : Not given the AirTag, but what efficiency! In test permanent since its launch just a year ago, the beacon has repeatedly enabled us to find our keys, to be alerted when our backpack on which Apple’s small appendage was attached was too far away… even to find a bag forgotten in a restaurant. Attention, the AirTag is sold without hook. Provide an additional fifteen euros.
To purify water: the LaVie 2GO bottle from LaVie
To refresh yourself with water that is always pure during your walks, the bottle Life 2GO de LaVie eliminates the taste of chlorine and its derivatives.
Its principle? That of a glass bottle that we will fill, then slip into a neoprene case. Connected to the mains for 15 minutes, it uses UV-A radiation which will break up the chlorine molecules and eliminate the other chemical bodies present in the water, such as pesticides, bacteria or traces of medication. 99 euros per filter bottle. 14.90 euros for the additional 0.5 l bottle.
Our opinion : With its 0.5 liter format, this bottle with its bamboo cap designed by an Aix-based start-up has the advantage of being able to be transported everywhere and avoiding the purchase of plastic bottles. So generate waste. If the basic investment is significant, it would pay for itself in one year for a family of two, according to the designer of the product.