10 Little-Known Car Gadgets Worth Trying For Yourself

In-car technology is advancing fast, and anyone who's been driving an older car for a while now might be surprised at just how quickly it has evolved. Leading car brands fight over things like who has the best built-in voice assistant as much as they fight over traditional metrics like interior space or efficiency. As a result, modern cars come preloaded with more gadgets than ever before. However, just because you drive an older model or your car didn't come with the latest tech doesn't mean you have to miss out on those gadgets.

There are plenty of options on the market for buyers looking to add some extra tech to their car. In fact, there are so many that it can be easy to miss a few. We've rounded up a selection of ten top picks designed to make life easier for drivers or solve common automotive problems, with most of them available for temptingly affordable prices.

Drivers looking to keep children entertained on longer journeys have plenty of options, and one of the most popular is leaving them with their tablet of choice. Whether it's an iPad, Galaxy Tablet, or any other top-rated Android tablet, children can watch content or play games to their heart's content. However, ensuring they keep hold of their tablet while in the car can be a challenge.

To prevent the upset caused by a child accidentally dropping their tablet on the floor, the Lamicall Car Headrest Tablet Holder can be used to fix it securely to the back of a headrest. It's designed to fit all common brands of tablets up to 11 inches in size and can even accommodate some larger phones, such as the iPhone 16 Pro Max. No tools are needed to install the holder, and it can stretch to fit a wide range of headrest sizes. The only requirement is that the front seat has headrest rods for the holder to attach to. It's a cheap and simple alternative to built-in headrest entertainment screens, and it retails for just $25 on Amazon.

Whether you've been enjoying festive drinks over the winter holidays or a few beers on the beach in summer, it's always better to check that you're under the limit before you get back in the car to drive home. Breathalyzers such as the BACtrack S80 Breathalyzer offer an affordable way to do just that, with FDA-approved accuracy and up to 1,500 tests on a pair of fully charged batteries. It comes with seven mouthpieces, making it suitable for use by multiple drivers if needed.

It's worth noting that laws on blood alcohol levels vary by state, so double-checking local regulations is especially important if you're away from home. Furthermore, a breathalyzer reading shouldn't be taken as a guarantee that you're safe to drive. As always, if you feel impaired, don't get behind the wheel. That said, for anyone looking for extra peace of mind that they're legally in the clear on their drive home, the BACtrack S80's $130 retail price might well be worth it.

Keeping tabs on where your car keys are can be easier said than done, but there's a simple way to find them with the Tile Mate. The small, tile-shaped device attaches to a key ring and can then be tracked via a companion app that's available for both Android and iOS devices. If you lose your keys, load up the app and their location history will appear. If the Tile is within Bluetooth range — say, you've misplaced your keys somewhere around the house — there's also the option to make the Tile ring so it can be easily located.

If you misplace your phone, the Tile can be used to find it too. Pressing a button on the tile will make the phone ring if it's within a suitably close distance, even if it's on silent mode. The device is IP67 rated, meaning it's resistant to both dust and water ingress, and comes with a built-in battery that its maker says should last for up to three years. It retails for $25, although buyers looking to use all of the Tile's features will need to cough up for a monthly subscription on top of that.

A number of carmakers now include ambient lighting on their latest cars, but for older models, it's still very much a novelty. Anyone looking to copy the in-car lighting trend on a budget might want to consider the Govee Car Interior LED Lights, which retail for $33 and run via a 12V power supply. The lights can be controlled via Bluetooth when they're connected to the brand's smartphone app, with Govee claiming that they can produce over 16 million unique colors.

A range of presets are also available, including rainbow colors, and the brightness can be dialed up or down to the driver's liking. There's even a built-in microphone that allows the lights to pulse in sync with music. The lights are attached via adhesive strips, although the quality of these strips is one of the main areas of complaint from buyers — be prepared to use your own adhesive tape if necessary. Still, the easy installation and amount of customization on offer make them worth a look for anyone looking to add a splash of color to their car's interior.

Moisture can build up inside cars and cause lasting damage, particularly if they don't get driven regularly. The Eva-Dry Wireless Mini Dehumidifier helps prevent that by removing moisture from the air for up to four weeks per charge and can remove up to 6 ounces of water during that period. When the indicator beads inside the device turn from yellow to green, users will need to plug the dehumidifier into a wall outlet to recharge it. The plug snaps neatly back into the rear of the device when it's not in use.

The Eva-Dry dehumidifier retails for $25, making it one of the most affordable gadgets here as well as potentially one of the most useful. It's not just good for cars either — it can also be used for trailers, RVs, or rooms in the house. It's around six inches wide, five inches tall, and two inches in depth, so it's small enough to leave in the car while you're driving around too.

One of the most unusual gadgets here is the Lingyoky 12V Car Kettle, which, as its name suggests, offers users a handy way to boil water while on the go. This is potentially more useful than it might initially sound, particularly for anyone who likes their coffee hot and can't always rely on a Thermos to keep it at a suitable temperature throughout a lengthy commute. At a retail price of $46, the car kettle is a relatively affordable investment, particularly given the range of features it offers.

It includes a screen with a readout of the desired water temperature, which can be adjusted via buttons on the side of the device. As well as bringing water to boiling point, the kettle can keep coffee, tea, or other hot drinks at a desired temperature throughout the journey, with a maximum continuous temperature of 203°F and a minimum of 86°F. It's designed to fit in a cupholder and features an anti-scald plastic shell, so it can still be picked up even when the water inside is boiling.

Keeping an eye on babies while they're in the car is essential, but turning around to look at them can mean taking your eyes off the road. Relying on a rear-view mirror is also far from a foolproof strategy, and in many cases, car seats can block your line of sight altogether. Instead, using a camera system like the Shynerk Baby Car Mirror is the safest bet. The system features a small 4.3-inch screen that can be mounted on the dash without obstructing the view of the driver. It's connected to a camera that can be mounted to a headrest.

The camera delivers a live feed of the baby in the car seat to the monitor, allowing you to keep watch over the youngest members of your family. The system — including the camera — is powered via the car's 12V outlet, so some careful positioning of wires around the car is required to set it up. There's no need to hard-wire anything though, so when it's not needed, the system can be readily removed. At a retail price of $37, the car mirror camera system is an affordable way to keep tabs on kids, and it even features a night vision mode to ensure you can still see them when the cabin is dark.

Many drivers have a power inverter of some sort to make use of their car's 12V outlet, but few of those inverters offer quite as much versatility as the Bestek 300W Power Inverter. The $33 device features a USB-C port, USB-A port, and two 110V AC outlets, meaning multiple small devices can be charged at once if necessary.

The USB-C port can deliver up to 30W, which is enough to fast charge many leading smartphones. For campers or weekend road trippers, the inverter can also power a variety of other devices, including mini fridges or outdoor lighting, if your power bank of choice runs out of juice. Its compact design ensures it can be easily stored in your car without taking up much space. This versatility, combined with its low asking price, has earned the Bestek inverter a place among SlashGear's game-changing road trip gadgets. Even if you're not a frequent road tripper, it's still worth considering.

Anyone who drives an older car will be all too familiar with the random appearance of warning lights from time to time. Sometimes, these lights are false alarms, and at other times, they're indicators that something is seriously wrong with the car. The tire pressure warning light is one of the most unnerving lights to see flash up while you're on the road, but there's a way to check whether it's worth worrying about without needing to get out of the car.

The Tymate TM7 Tire Pressure Monitor plugs into your car's 12V outlet and gives a real-time readout of the pressures of all four tires, independent of your car's potentially problematic electronics. It uses a sensor on each tire to monitor pressures and report back and will automatically issue an alert to the driver if it detects a pressure issue. The monitor helps drivers ensure that tire pressure should be at safe levels, providing peace of mind on the road. The brand claims it remains accurate up to 87 PSI. As well as monitoring the pressures of a car, it can also be used to monitor the pressures of a towed trailer.

Most of the gadgets here are oriented toward cars produced in the last couple of decades, but even classic cars can be improved with the right gadgets. For example, the Retro Manufacturing Car Radio is a vintage-looking car radio designed to fit a range of popular classic vehicles, but it packs modern features like Bluetooth connectivity. The linked example above caters to '70s Camaros and Firebirds, but plenty of other models are available. Unlike many in-car units, which offer screens and smartphone connectivity at the expense of looking completely out of place, the Retro Manufacturing radios fit right in with the rest of the dash.

The radio also includes an AM/FM tuner, a USB port for thumb drives, and an external microphone for hands-free calls. At a retail price of $315, it's not an insignificant investment, but one that might be well worth considering for classic car owners looking to add some modern conveniences to their ride without sacrificing its retro aesthetic.