6 Surprising Tech Travel Gadgets For 2025
We’ve all become dependent on technology to enhance our functionality, but what are some helpful and affordable gadgets to assist performance and wellness while you travel? Here are six unique finds.
iFLYTEK AINOTE Air 2
We all have the same question when we travel: Should I take my laptop? My iPad? We worry about their value and size, especially when traveling to destinations that present climate, environment or safety challenges. But what’s the alternative? iFlytek AINOTE Air 2 is a wafter-thin, very small AI-powered notebook useful for the modern professional or anyone who needs to read, write, and communicate while traveling. It’s especially useful for those of us who don’t want to use a keyboard while on the road, but would prefer writing in a journal. With the AINOTE Air 2 you can transcribe speech to text in real-time, with support for multiple languages; combine handwritten notes and sketches with transcribed audio for a comprehensive record; automatically generate meeting minutes and organize notes with integrated scheduling features; access your notes anytime, anywhere with cloud sync between the tablet and mobile app. But the big standout is intuitive handwriting: Enjoy a paper-like writing experience with low latency and customizable pen styles. Plus, you can scan and convert paper documents to digital format with iFLYTEK DocScan.
This is a low profile and very discreet tech tool (no noises, no brightly glowing liquid retina display that keep fellow travelers awake). With its super-thin, durable black casing it can also be easily concealed in your luggage and doesn’t scream “steal me!” It’s useful for travel off-the-beaten path where you don’t want to be worried about the fragility or weight of a laptop. It’s especially handy on business and study trips, at conventions and symposiums, and in low security environments such as dorm rooms and camping where you wish to take notes but don’t want paperwork lying around that could be misplaced and misappropriated. It’s also our pick for travel to extreme temperatures, where other tech products might be adversely affected by heat, humidity, moisture or the cold. This is a sophisticated tool that uses cutting-edge AI and intuitive design. It features real-time voice-to-text conversion, multi-language translation, and the ability to take handwritten notes while recording meetings—capabilities that streamline productivity and are lacking in other products. It is a very compact tool for using in confined environments such as airplanes or other restrictive seating because unlike typing on a keyboard, the AINOTE will make sense of just about any scribble or annotation. If you’re a world traveler, odds are you live a hybrid life, and this is the perfect hybrid tech tool!
Hypersphere Mini
The Hypersphere Mini is a massage ball that fits into the palm of your hand. With three speeds of vibration—low, medium, and high—you can roll it over your muscles wherever they need some loosening up. Perfect for travel, the TSA carry-on approved Hypersphere Mini targets your tightest areas with precision to help you move better wherever you roam.
This handy little ball is brought to you by Hyperice, a technology-driven company with a giant mission, to help everyone on Earth move and live better. For more than a decade, Hyperice has led a global movement at the confluence of recovery and wellness, specializing in percussion (Hypervolt line), dynamic air compression (Normatec line), vibration (Vyper and Hypersphere lines), thermal technology (Venom line), mind technology (Core by Hyperice) and contrast therapy (Hyperice X, see below).
WHOOP
WHOOP, the human performance company, offers a wearable health and fitness coach to help people achieve their goals. It calibrates to your individual baseline, identifying your typical heart rate, resting heart rate, heart rate variability, skin temperature, and blood oxygen levels. View your Health Monitor page to see improvements and irregularities over time. Track your fitness level as you travel. Stay motivated to make the most of your trip.
The WHOOP membership provides best-in-class wearable technology, actionable feedback, and recommendations across recovery, sleep, training, and health.
Lume Pad 2
Entertain yourself as you travel! Lume Pad 2 is the world’s first 3D•AI tablet equipped with embedded technology to create fully immersive 3D streaming and gaming experiences along with content sharing and creation apps—all without the need for any eyewear. Available for purchase at leiainc.com or through Amazon, the Lume Pad 2 uses AI to enable faster, more robust 2D to 3D conversion, which means more content can be more immersive. Its face-tracking technology uses real-time AI to compute the best, most vibrant 3D image for you at any angle. The 3D camera is assisted by AI learning and trained by our unique data set to optimize every image for captivating results.
Leia Inc.’s LeiaSR™ is born from pioneering research at HP Labs and Philips, their breakthrough content, software, and hardware solutions leverage advanced optics and LeiaAI to transform ordinary content into naturally immersive experiences.
Hyperice X
If you’re traveling for sport or embarking on a trip that involves lots of walking, hiking, horse riding or maybe even dancing (hello, Pride party), which may cause an old knee injury to flare up, pack Hyperice X to be on the safe side. Advanced hot and cold therapy comes out of elite locker rooms and into your hands for the first time. Hyperice X gives you contrast therapy treatment on demand, holding at a consistent temperature for as long as needed or automatically switching between hot and cold on a set program, all nearly instantly and magically without wires. Recover faster so you can get right back at it with the hottest (and coolest) piece of recovery tech yet from Hyperice.
Hyperice is designed for all—from the most elite athletes, leagues, and teams to consumers everywhere looking to unlock the best version of themselves to help them do what they love more while they are on the move.
Dark Dots
Have you ever checked into a hotel suite or Airbnb and found that the bedroom electronics have LEDs that glow in the dark at night, keeping you awake? Well, now you can cover up those pesky LEDs that are always glaring away just when you’re trying to hit the hay with a straightforward tool: Dark Dots. They are also helpful for covering webcam eyes, should you worry about surveillance while you use your computer or someone else’s in that holiday rental or internet cafe. Just remember to peel the Dark Dots off when you have finished using the appliance. Made by sleep expert Matt Hassett, whose brand Loftie also has lamps and clocks designed to be sleep-friendly.
