15 tech gifts moms will actually love to get this Mother's Day

An alarm clock that uses light to wake her up gently

Moms work hard and they often have to wake up early. Just because she has to wake up before the sun rises that doesn't mean she has to awaken to the blaring of an obnoxious alarm clock.

Philips makes a lovely alarm clock that gradually lights up to mimic the sunrise and wake her up naturally. The light alarm clock also displays the time and has customizable sounds so she can wake up feeling rested and ready for the day. This clock is the top pick in our buying guide, so you can be sure she'll love it.

A fun grip for her phone

Tech products can look and feel generic until we put our stamp on them, and PopSocket grips are a great way to add personality to a boring phone or case. PopSockets has hundreds, if not thousands, of fun phone grips in all kinds of materials, colors, and patterns. No matter what your mom likes, you're sure to find a style that will match her taste and personality.

In addition to looking super cute, PopSocket grips make it easier to hold a large phone comfortably, give a better grip, and also double as a kickstand for watching video or sharing photos with others. These grips are among the best iPhone accessories I've tried.

A piece of smart jewelry

If your mom cares more about style than high-tech features, but she still wants a piece of tech to track her activity, she may love a piece of smart jewelry. Bellabeat makes our favorite smart jewelry hands down. Both the Leaf Urban and the Chakra are lovely pieces of smart jewelry that can be worn as pendants on a necklace or as a clip on clothing. If your mom prefers bracelets, the Leaf Urban can also be worn as a bracelet.

Both models track activity and sleep quality. Your mom can also use the app to keep tabs on how much water she drinks, her period, and her mindfulness minutes. The app even has a cool meditation feature to give your mom a few minutes of tranquility each day.

A pair of blue-light-blocking glasses

These days, we all spend a lot of time looking at screens that display harsh blue light, which can lead to eye strain and disrupted sleep patterns. Luckily, Felix Gray makes incredible blue-light-blocking glasses for people who don't need glasses at all, as well as those who need reading or prescription glasses.

The company uses special lenses that filter out blue light. Its regular pairs look like normal glasses without any visible yellow tint, but the special sleep glasses have a yellow cast to their lenses. However, they block even more blue light, making them ideal for nighttime reading. We've tried Felix Gray's glasses and we love them — we think Mom will, too.

A mobile printer for her phone

Most moms are shutterbugs who love to take photos, and most shutterbugs also want to print their photos. In the age of smartphone photography, a mobile printer that prints photos directly from a phone is a great gift. HP's Sprocket is the best one you can buy, because it's easy to use, not too expensive, and produces nice prints.

A cool device to turn old photo negatives and slides into digital photos

If your mom is anything like mine, she's got tons of old photos, negatives, and slides lying around from the days of physical photography. You can help her digitize her old negatives and slides with this nifty device from Kodak. Using her phone's camera and an app, she can capture the images stored on negatives and slides and get them onto her phone as normal digital pictures.

A smartwatch

Some moms are total tech geeks, and there's nothing more appealing to a geek than a nice looking smartwatch. If Mom is an iPhone user, get her an Apple Watch. If she's on Android, you have a lot more choices. We really like the Kate Spade Scallop 2 watch, but you can check out all our favorites here. Both will buzz with notifications, track activity, and more.

A watch that looks like a traditional timepiece, but has a lot of smarts

If your mom isn't crazy about smartwatches with screens, but she still wants a watch that has some smart features, she'll love the Withings Steel HR. It looks like a normal watch, but it has a heart rate monitor and other sensors to track activity and sleep. The Steel HR also buzzes with notifications from select apps. The watch has a tiny screen at 12 o'clock, so when she presses the button on the side, she can see the date, time, her metrics, and incoming notifications.

A smart mug that keeps her drink the perfect temperature

Not all tech has to be super techy. Ember's smart mug is a great gift for moms who love to drink piping hot tea, coffee, or other hot drinks. The ceramic mug syncs with an app on her phone to show how much she has drunk from the mug and also the preferred temperature of her drinks. The mug comes with a coaster that can reheat her drink and keep it at the optimal temperature. We tired this mug and we loved it.

A smart speaker with a screen that will show her favorite photos

Although a smart speaker may sound like a super techy gift, it's actually a very intuitive and easy-to-use product. The Google Home Hub doubles as a smart speaker and a smart display to show Mom the weather, her calendar, her commute, her favorite photos, or any number of videos on YouTube with a simple voice command. She can also ask the Google assistant any questions that pop into her head. It's one of our favorite smart displays.

A long charging cable for her phone

One of the most frustrating things is losing your only charging cable for your phone. Everyone can use an extra charging cable, and having a long one like Native Union's Night Cable is a great idea. The cable is 10-feet long, so Mom won't have to struggle with a short cable anymore. It also has a weighted knot that can be moved up and down the cable to provide enough ballast to keep the cable and the phone it's charging in place.

A simple security camera

Although we may joke that Mom's got eyes in the back of her head, she can't very well see her home if she's not inside it. That's where a security camera comes into play. Logitech's Circle 2 is easy to use and it monitors all activity that happens in Mom's house when she's out and about. She'll get alerts when motion is detected, she can check in on things to see a live feed in the app on her phone, and she can even talk to whoever is in the house be it the family dog, cat, a known person, or an intruder. You can get it in either a wired or wireless version.

An ebook reader

Although some people swear they'll never love an ebook reader because they're die-hard print fans, no one should knock the ebook until they've tried it. If Mom loves reading, but hates holding heavy hardcovers or travels a lot, an ebook reader is a great gift for her. The Kindle Paperwhite is the best ebook reader for most people's needs and budgets. It can hold thousands of ebooks, it's waterproof, and it's fairly affordable.

A robot vacuum cleaner

Although everyone will tell you not to buy mom an appliance for Mother's Day, a robot vacuum cleaner is one she'll love because it'll do the cleaning for her. We've tested a lot of robot vacuums, and although the iRobot Roomba 690 is a few years old and not the most high-end model, it works extremely well. It can clean rooms on its own, it avoids obstacles, and it goes back to its charging base when it's done. You can also check out more options in our buying guide to robot vacuums. Cleaning without any effort on Mom's part is priceless.

A smart baby monitor

If you're shopping for a new mom, there is an endless selection of baby products you can get her and her baby. One of the most high-tech and pricey purchases for new parents is a nice video baby monitor.

The Nanit Plus Smart Baby Monitor is one of our favorites, because it's a system that learns a baby's movement patterns and sleep trends and lets the parents know when things seem off. It gives Mom and Dad a nice birds-eye view of the baby in its crib, so both parents can see the baby clearly in the app.