Man
up.
Men;
the enigma sex of the human race. No, not really. Men are super easy
to buy for at Christmas, as all you really need to show even a slight
amount of effort is a gift that involves cars, tools, or boobs.
Still, deciding between those three categories can be tricky, but
fortunately good ol' Aldi have stepped up to the plate with a few
special man-themed gift ranges. We delve in...
A
18V Li-ion Drill & Driver Set (£99.99), a Premium Telescope (put
to good use in the advert, £69.99), a pretty decent Bluetooth
Soundbar (£39.99), a Turntable-cum-MP3 Converter (£29.99), a Smart
Watch (£29.99), a Rotary Shaver Gift Pack (£19.99), an RC Drone
with Camera (£49.99) and a Guitar (£34.99).
We
know, pretty impressively eclectic so far, and the ranges also
include mush less expensive items such as Men's Lambswool Knitwear
(£16.99), a Dressing Gown (£9.99), Luxury Leather Gloves (£9.99),
a smart little RC Mini Helicopter that shoots water (£22.99), Gaming
Headphones (£14.99), Men's Pyjamas (£8.99), and Dickies Thermo
Socks (£3.49) as well as many others. As ever, those lovely peeps at
Aldi were kind enough to send us a small selection of the kit to try
out. We had a look at:
The
18V Li-ion Drill & Driver Set
This
electric tool set, which is part of Aldi’s Titanium+ range, is
actually two separate hand tools; a 18V Cordless Hammer Drill and
a 18V Cordless Impact Driver. That was a genuine and very welcome
surprise, as we were expecting one tool that served both functions.
As such, £99.99 actually seems quite reasonable for this set, as
there is a lot here for both expert builders and have-a-go DIYers.
The
tools themselves are a nice blend of metal and plastic, and both feel
reassuringly sturdy in the hand. Each features a removable Li-Ion
battery, and the set comes with a charger. You can actually get a
full charge out of a battery after just an hour, which is a hell of a
lot faster than we've ever been used to with drills of this price.
Couple all that with a very strong plastic carry case, and you have
here an excellent gift.
RC
Mini Helicopter
Aww,
Aldi really know what we like. Yes, it wouldn't be Christmas without
flying a small remote controlled helicopter around the living room,
shooting your relatives with water. This is a fun little gyro-copter,
compete with physical controller (no annoying app to download onto
your phone) and spare parts, which also boasts a unique water
reservoir. Fill it up, fly it close to someone special (ideally
someone you know quite well, or Christmas Day could get ugly) and
give 'em a squirt.
Although
just a small little tank, you can get a few good squirts out of this,
with varying degrees of accuracy. Still, the chopper itself seems to
behave very well, and is quick and easy to master – certainly a lot
easier than a multi-rotor drone is. We found that this was most fun
without having to spray your Uncle Dave in the eye, and enjoyed a
neat little chopper at a great price for noobs.
Jammies!
Yeah,
they sent us pyjamas, dudes! Usually we get socks from Aldi when
reviewing their many Specialbuy ranges (running socks, cycling socks,
fishing socks, motorcycle socks), and although we missed out on a
pair of Christmas socks this time, instead we got socks for your
whole body... PJs! Furthermore, these aren't the traditional 'shirt &
trousers' pyjamas that your ailing grandfather would have died in, oh
no – these are soft and cosy t-shirt pyjamas.
Although
none of us would consider ourselves jammy-chaps, there has been a
definite fight over the pair we were sent to test. There's something
about both this time of year, and Christmas itself, that demands as
much of your time as possible is spent snuggled up indoors, and these
pyjamas certainly facilitate that.