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The best crowdfunding campaigns to check out in April 2020

Why is everyone making toothbrushes right now?

monster x battery pack
Image: Monster X

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Crowdfunding is a really cool way for innovative products to see the light of day, without the restrictions placed on in-house development at large companies. It’s also a great place to check out video games from small studios, movies, and even campaigns for social good.

With all of those campaigns competing for your attention, it can be tricky to find ones based on your interests. Let KnowTechie do all the hard work for you, with our picks of the crop for April.

Check out these 10 crowdfunding campaigns this month

So… with how many crowdfunding campaigns there are out there, how do you choose what to back? Well, I use a combination of checking out their campaign page, looking to see if any of the comments on their prior campaigns show dissatisfied backers, and also companies I’ve already had successful pledge fulfillment from.

I also tend to stick to gadget areas that I know a bit about, like photography, cooking, maker tools, and writing implements. That way I can judge if the campaign’s aspirations are within reach or not, which adds to my decisions. I’m also picking campaigns with some time left to run, as it’s no fun finding out about cool campaigns after they’ve finished.

So, with all of that out of the way, here are some of the crowdfunding campaigns I’ve found worthy of attention in April:

Talo smart toothbrush

Look, we get it. Two minutes a day to brush your non-replaceable teeth is just too much for our modern, busy lives. The team at Talo also knows this, so they created an automatic toothbrush that takes all the hard work out of brushing your teeth so you’ll have pearly whites in less than 20 seconds.

It works like this: Imagine a rollercoaster track that fits the curve of your teeth. Then imagine two brushes hurtling across that a few times, cleaning both back and front sides of your teeth, while also cleaning your gums. Flip it to do the other half of your mouth, then you’re done.

Grab one from Kickstarter for $119 while early bird pricing is in effect.

[letsreviewaffiliate url=”https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/talobrush/talo-the-first-self-brushing-toothbrush” text=”see at kickstarter” size=”small” rel=”nofollow” target=”newwindow” accent=”#d9d0e2″ border=”off”]


Monster X

monster x battery pack

Image: Monster X

I don’t know about you, but every time I want to go anywhere the first thing I think of is how I’m going to charge all my devices. If I’m not going to be anywhere near a wall socket, I like to pack a hefty power bank. The Monster X and its 1,300 Wh capacity means you can bring the wall socket with you – four of them! It’s also got two 60W USB-C PD sockets, and four fast-charging USB-A sockets, making it able to charge up to 11 devices at once!

If you own a Tesla, you can even recharge your car for another 7.5 miles of driving. That’s a hefty battery!

You can get all the battery bank you need for $770 while early bird pricing is in effect, or $799 bundled with a solar panel to recharge it with.

[letsreviewaffiliate url=”https://monster-x-the-future-of-1.kckb.st/knowtechie” text=”see at kickstarter” size=”small” rel=”nofollow” target=”newwindow” accent=”#d9d0e2″ border=”off”]


M-Care Self-Sanitizing toothbrush

We’re all a little bit more conscious of cleanliness right now, but what about the humble toothbrush? I mean it’s in your mouth every day, and it never really gets cleaned properly, leading to buildup of germs and other nasties.

UV light can clean those germs right off though, so it’s worth giving Bestek’s M-Care system a look. It’s got a sonic toothbrush with anti-bacterial bristles paired with a recharging case that also kills off germs with UV-C while air drying your toothbrush. Nifty.

Grab the M-Care system for $59 while early bird pricing is in effect, or $39 for the travel version.

[letsreviewaffiliate url=”https://m-care-uv-sanitizing-sonic.kckb.st/knowtechie” text=”see at indiegogo” size=”small” rel=”nofollow” target=”newwindow” accent=”#d9d0e2″ border=”off”]


HybridDrive

One of the unfortunate downsides of the move to USB-C as the laptop port of choice is that you might find yourself needing dongles upon hubs upon other dongles to actually use your devices. Take all the pain out of your laptop with HybridDrive, which combines a USB-C hub with USB-C, two USB-A, an HDMI port, and SDcard slots, with an external USB-C SSD so you can actually use the power of USB-C from one device.

All kinds of storage sizes are available, from 128GB at $69, up to 2TB at $219 over on Indiegogo.

[letsreviewaffiliate url=”https://hybriddrive-expandable-hub.kckb.st/knowtechie” text=”see at indiegogo” size=”small” rel=”nofollow” target=”newwindow” accent=”#d9d0e2″ border=”off”]


MaeGo: Self-Driving Robot for Target Shooting Game & Coding

Let’s face it – we’re going to be stuck inside for a while. Stave off cabin fever while learning how to code with MaeGo, the self-driving robot that also plays laser tag. It uses an infrared blaster so you don’t have to worry about any pesky eye damage, and has all kinds of cool tricks. It’s even got pressure sensitivity, so you can use it with Nerf blasters (not included).

It’s got LIDAR, a camera, tons of sensors, and can do tricks like spins or crashing once it’s actually been ‘shot’ by the lightblaster. How cool is that?

Get one MaeGo robot with included infrared blaster for $129 while early bird pricing is in effect, or go big with three MaeGo’s for $398 for huge lasertag games.

[letsreviewaffiliate url=”https://maego-self-driving-robot-for.kckb.st/knowtechie” text=”see at kickstarter” size=”small” rel=”nofollow” target=”newwindow” accent=”#d9d0e2″ border=”off”]


Albero – Ultra silent 3-in-1 nano air purifier

Did you know the air inside your home is likely to be five times as polluted as the air outside? See, modern homes are great for energy efficiency but that means air is trapped, and so are all the pollutants that it carries. Fix that with this nifty air filter that combines UV-A, a catalytic convertor filter and pollutant sensors that can destroy 99 percent of airborne gunk.

Everything from bacteria to mold to allergens to carbon monoxide and more is destroyed in a near-silent air filter. It’s literally destroyed, not trapped like HEPA filters, so your home air gets clean then stays clean. That’s going to come in handy with all of us having to stay indoors even more.

[letsreviewaffiliate url=”https://ultra-silent-3-in-1-nano-air.kckb.st/knowtechie” text=”see at indiegogo” size=”small” rel=”nofollow” target=”newwindow” accent=”#d9d0e2″ border=”off”]


Rotofarm

Wouldn’t it be great to grow your own salad, while also having an insanely cool looking conversation starter? That’s Rotofarm in a nutshell. You’ve seen similar Nasa-inspired circular zero-gravity tech in multiple sci-fi shows, but now you can have it on your kitchen counter.

Just stick the pre-seeded pods into the slots around the interior, fill the reservoir with water and nutrients, and sit back and wait for your delicious veggies. Salad is never fresher than when it comes from your own garden.

Grab the Nasa-inspired Rotofarm for $543 while early bird pricing is in effect.

[letsreviewaffiliate url=”https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/rotofarm-a-beautiful-nasa-inspired-indoor-garden#/” text=”see at indiegogo” size=”small” rel=”nofollow” target=”newwindow” accent=”#d9d0e2″ border=”off”]


SuperCalla | Charging Cables Redesigned

Ever had to search for your charging cable only to find it a tangled mess? Of course you have, but no more with SuperCalla. See, it’s got integral magnets that let you easily stow the cable for storage, that won’t let it get tangled so easily. Even if it does, you can still just pull it to overcome the magnetic force.

Grab a SuperCalla for $19, or add more to your pledge for additional discounts.

[letsreviewaffiliate url=”https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1813437441/supercalla-charging-cables-redesigned” text=”see at kickstarter” size=”small” rel=”nofollow” target=”newwindow” accent=”#d9d0e2″ border=”off”]


The World’s First Building Brick Breakfast Waffle Maker

Waffles. Good, right? Bricks to make things. Good, right? What if you combine the two? Good, right? That’s exactly what’s happening here, with the breakfast waffle maker that proves you really can play with your food.

Now your stack of waffles can be a house, or a pyramid, or anything your imagination can come up with. Tasty.

Grab one of the waffle makers for $50, or add plates to your pledge so you can easily build a tasty masterpiece.

[letsreviewaffiliate url=”https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/594005125/the-worlds-first-building-brick-waffle-maker” text=”see at kickstarter” size=”small” rel=”nofollow” target=”newwindow” accent=”#d9d0e2″ border=”off”]


The Keyboardio Atreus

It’s no secret I love mechanical keyboards. It’s also no real secret that I love anything that comes with a nifty travel case. Combine the two, and you get the Atreus, from Keyboardio. It’s a go-anywhere ergonomic keyboard that you can stick into your pocket.

The 44 keys cover everything a normal, fullsize keyboard can do, by splitting other functions onto ‘layers.’ It’s fully-programmable if you want a different layout, and because all the keys are the same size, changing the layout is simple. Oh, and it’s got hotswap sockets if you want a more exotic mechanical keyswitch. Sweet.

Grab an Atreus for $99, or add $30 to get it bundled with a travel case.

[letsreviewaffiliate url=”https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/keyboardio/atreus” text=”see at kickstarter” size=”small” rel=”nofollow” target=”newwindow” accent=”#d9d0e2″ border=”off”]


Editors’ Recommendations:

Just a heads up, if you buy something through our links, we may get a small share of the sale. Click here for more.

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Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience at KnowTechie, SlashGear and XDA Developers. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere, with particular focus in gadgetry and handheld gaming. Shoot him an email at joe@knowtechie.com.

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