For those of us lucky to have a garden at home, of course we want to make it as comfortable and entertaining as possible. So to help jazz up your outdoor space, we’ve pulled together some of the best garden gadgets to give you some inspiration.
We love cool gadgets and as ever, tech companies are right on hand with gardening gadgets to help us get our outdoor areas working smarter and looking better.
From gardening tools, like mini chainsaws and smart sprinkler systems to portable projectors and al fresco cooking kits that simply make our gardens more enjoyable places to be, our pick of the best gardening gadgets you can buy will help you turn your outdoor space into the place to be this summer.
For the get-togethers that go on long into the evening, Innr’s range of outdoor smart lighting should help to keep the party going past sunset.
Choose from pedestal lights, spot lights and lighting strips for a setup that works for your space, then control them all using the Innr app on your phone.
This allows you to choose when they come on, programme an automated schedule, build your lighting into a smart home routine and choose what colour you want them to be. You can even adjust them using your voice with Alexa or Google Assistant.
They work on the Zigbee protocol, so you’ll need a control hub that support this. Some of Amazon’s more recent Echo family, like the 4th Generation Echo, the Echo Studio and the Echo Show 10, already have Zigbee support built in, but otherwise installing the Philips Hue Bridge or Samsung SmartThings Hub will do the trick.
Innr’s range of lights come in groups of three but can be expanded up to 10 using one control box, or use several different control boxes if you’d like to control different lights separately. With a bit of tech know-how they’re easy enough to install, but will require an outside plug, so that’s the only bit you’ll need an electrician for.
We like the Mars II because it has everything you need it to in a single box, making it really simple to get started. That means you can expect built-in Wi-Fi for access to Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and BBC iPlayer, a decent enough speaker for sound and a rechargeable battery that’ll give it four hours of runtime away from a plug.
Set up is straightforward too, with automatic focusing and keystone correction, so all you need to do is point it at a blank wall and let the projector do the rest. It’s capable of projecting a picture up to 100 inches with a resolution of 720p HD, though we’d recommend keeping it smaller than that for the best picture.
We’d also suggest waiting until it’s as dark as possible to kick off the movie. The light output is only 300 lumens so it isn’t going to be the brightest picture you’ve ever seen, but with convenience and ease-of-use on its side, it’s perfect for adding a bit more fun into those summer nights.
Ice cold drinks are a must on a warm day, but when the fridge is full of food from the BBQ and you’ve got thirsty guests, you might find your fridge space you have available is unable to keep up with the demand.
Whether it’s a can of Coke, a beer or a bottle of wine, the Cooper Cooler will take your warm beverage and make it ice cold in a matter of minutes. All you need to do is load it up with ice and water, choose the drink you want to chill and set it going.
The Cooper Cooler will rotate your drink (gently – there’ll be no explosions once you remove it from the cooler) and spray it with ice cold water to get it to the same low temperature throughout. The result is a fridge-cool beer in a minute, or a bottle of wine in around six minutes. Absolute game changer.