Beyond sun cream and swimwear: Your 2023 summer essentials

As the weather gets warmer and the days longer, summer feels just around the corner. Whether planning a trip abroad, a staycation or simply enjoying the nature around our local area, Brits will soon be searching for the must-have summer essentials to delight in all season long. Beyond sun cream and swimwear, these essentials – from a Swytch kit which turns your bike into an e-bike, to the innovative water bottle that flavours our water using scent alone, air up – are guaranteed to be used all summertime:

Birda: The app to get you outdoors and appreciating nature this summer

As we approach the warmer weather and longer days of summer, Birda, the fastest-growing birdwatching app, offers a free activity that’s fun for the whole family, while turning the discovery and exploration of birdlife and the outdoors into a game.

Following data by Birda revealing that 17% of Brits say the only bird species they’ve seen in their town or city is a pigeon, sea gull or crow, Birda helps you identify and log the birds around you, offering the option to follow what wildlife your friends are finding, challenges, and healthy competition, the app also offers some exciting prizes and rewards. In addition to an ever-growing species guide which offers thousands of bird references, Birda has incredible integration with location data which means that users can find top birding locations anywhere on the globe. To top it all off, by using Birda, you help conservationists and scientific researchers by sharing your bird sightings. This helps experts put the proper measures in place to protect and safeguard birds, so you can help the wildlife you’re trying to find.

air up: The innovative water bottle that flavours our water using scent alone

air up is making hydration our new go-to accessory for the summer, transforming plain tap water into our favourite flavours. The bottles come in a variety of colours and styles from hot pink to ocean blue or electric orange, as well as offering a variety of coloured mouthpieces and straps. With the soft drinks market in the UK forecast to hit 7.25 billion by 2026 – dominated by sugary drinks and those labelled as ‘zero-calorie’ still filled with a variety of additives and sweeteners – air up’s bottles and innovative retro nasal technology offers Brits a healthy alternative to stay hydrated this summer.

Swytch: The simple electric bike kit turns any bike into an e-bike

As the temperature starts to rise, many of us are looking for ways to get outside and get active. With tubes and buses suffering from sweaty overcrowding over the summer months, and TfL fares rising amidst a historic cost-of-living crisis, commuters are looking to cut down daily costs. Swytch Technology’s latest e-bike conversion kit allows you to turn any bike into an e-bike, making summer cycling even more of a breeze. Coming in at a fraction of the cost compared to any e-bike on the market, and helping drastically reduce our daily spending, the Swytch kit is the perfect way to (finally) start getting into cycling.

HyperJar: Britain’s top-rated budgeting app

Spring clean your finances to make more room for activities with your friends and loved ones. It’s easy to budget when you can visualise everything. Money-management apps like HyperJar, Britain’s top-rated budgeting app, act as a ‘digital wallet’ that allows users to categorise their spending into different ‘Jars’. Whether it’s for rent, food or trips abroad, you can link your HyperJar card and spend directly from any Jar. Even better, you can easily create shared Jars with your friends and family to split the costs. HyperJar also offers prepaid travel cards – available in 36 million locations in over 200 countries – with benefits including zero fees for spending in any currency and Mastercard’s best exchange rate with no fees on top.