My Top 5 Gadgets of 2022

In the last hours of 2022, I wanted to take a quick moment and celebrate the gadgets that had the most impact on me this year.

Steam Deck

The Steam Deck is PC gaming rig that you can take anywhere. If there’s a better device for 40 year old fathers who like to play some games, I can’t imagine what it would be. The Steam Deck has been amazing and has exposed me to a much larger list of fun games than what I was playing before. (Coincidentally, my spending on games has also ballooned, so well played, Steam.)

Flipper Zero

I’ve already written about my Flipper Zero, so I won’t go through it again, but playing with this little device packed with sensors has been fun. The downside is that I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface! I need to spend more time in their Discord and see what else this thing can do in 2023.

Stream Deck

Not to be confused with the STEAM deck, the Stream Deck is not new in 2022, but it was a new addition in my life and it’s been a joy. Again, I’ve written about it already, but the Stream Deck has been a huge factor in my 2022 goal of automating more of my life.

Bluetooth Rubik’s Cube

I had this idea where I wanted to get a bluetooth enabled Rubik’s cube and pair it to a custom device that will trigger some crazy stuff to happen in my home office when someone solves the cube, so I bought a cheap bluetooth Rubik’s cube from Amazon a month ago. I still want to complete that little project, but I’m having way too much fun timing myself and tracking my Rubik stats on my phone.

Aqara Sensors

A big part of my automation goals in 2022 was really diving in to Home Assistant. I’ve had a Home Assistant server for years now, but I moved all of my automations to it this year and really made it the brains of my home automation. Recently I finally pulled the trigger on a series of Aqara sensors (entry, motion, vibration, leak, etc) and they have worked really well, especially when you factor in the relatively low price point. I wrote about how I hacked an Aqara entry sensor in to a dead bolt lock sensor recently.

See you in 2023!