Electronics could make for among the coolest vacation gifts, but when my years of recommending them has taught me something, selecting the best gear for family members will be difficult. What type of telephone have they got? Are they due for a laptop upgrade? There are how many AirPods? And why the heck is all these items so costly?
If you’re racking your mind for the solutions to these questions amid the frenzy of vacation purchasing season, I’ve bought your again. Electronics author Henry T. Casey and I’ve been reviewing tech for greater than a decade, and extra importantly, we have now been gifting devices to hard-to-shop-for family and associates for even longer. From reasonably priced equipment they didn’t know they wanted to the very best headphones and gaming consoles for that particular somebody, listed below are 19 present concepts that we’ve examined and love, and are assured your giftee will too.
For the one who’s all the time dropping stuff
I in all probability do not want to clarify AirTags to you at this level. A go-to gadget utilized by almost your entire NCS Underscored employees (myself included) and an absolute no-brainer present for any Apple consumer, these tiny trackers work as nice as ever for retaining tabs in your keys, baggage, pets or no matter else you determine to connect them to. Pair one with an AirTag holder to make the present further helpful.
For minimalists and content material creators
Easily one of the enjoyable and practical MagSafe wallets we have examined, Moft’s snap-on pockets and stand combo can securely retailer up to two playing cards whereas additionally serving as a grip and a helpful telephone stand for watching video (or recording your personal). It’s surprisingly sturdy as a stand regardless of how slim it’s, comes in a ton of engaging colours and works with any iPhone 12 and up, in addition to the Google Pixel 10 collection. You’d be hard-pressed to discover a present extra reasonably priced and versatile.
A classy improve for the AirPods fanatic
There’s an excellent probability the AirPods lover in your listing is not defending or personalizing their earbuds, however you possibly can repair that for them at a comparatively low worth. I’ve been loving this Mujjo Echelon case, which cocoons my AirPods Pro 3 in luxe leather-based however nonetheless leaves room for ports and wi-fi charging. It even has a helpful built-in clip so I can maintain my buds connected to my keys. Mujjo sells this slick case for the AirPods Pro 2, AirPods Pro 3 and AirPods 4 in a couple of totally different colours, so you’ve got bought loads of choices for making their on a regular basis carry much more engaging.
For taking their PopSocket to the following stage
“I’ve tested a lot of phone grips and stands, but rarely do I find one that does both while also allowing for a bit of customization,” Casey stated. “That’s the joy of the MagSafe Kick-Out Grip and Stand, which features a hinge that lets you unfold it and stand your phone up at various vertical and horizontal angles. It works with existing PopSocket grips too, since you can detach a grip by turning it counterclockwise while pressing it in.”
For your good friend whose telephone is all the time on empty
“Friends don’t let associates hit ‘low battery’ alerts, or at the least that’s what I inform myself after I regularly hand my favorite portable charger to Mike Andronico when he’s left the home with out a correctly charged telephone,” Casey stated (and I can verify). “This palm-sized power bank packs enough charge to refuel two phones, and its built-in USB-C cable means it’s all you need on the go for most recent iPhones and Androids. It comes in multiple colors so you can match to your other accessories, and it’s got extra ports in case you need to charge multiple devices at once.”
For the fashionable iPhone proprietor
Crossbody phone straps are all the fashion lately, and this Mageasy mannequin is one among Casey’s favorites. It provides among the best safety of any strap case we examined — some pricier choices do not even embody a case — and includes a snug, simply adjustable strap for rocking your iPhone 16 or iPhone 17 out in the wild. It’s a surefire hit for anybody making an attempt to put on their iPhone like all of the cool children are lately.
For the frequent oversleeper
I’m not an enormous alarm clock man (I’ve my canine for that), however I’ve liked having the Echo Spot at my bedside for the previous few months. This slick system can be a full-on Alexa speaker that may play music, give you climate updates, management your good residence gadgets and do all the opposite Alexa issues that you just’d need an Echo to do.
For these with a house lab filled with charging gadgets
“I’ve had a lot of fun making my home office better than ever this year, but the one problem I ran into was keeping an increasing number of power-hungry gadgets charged,” Casey stated. “That’s where this excellent power strip comes into play, as it adds a lovely, geeky charm to the room while providing three powerful outlets and four high-speed USB-C ports.”
For these with all of the Apple gear
“You know that good friend who’s listening to their iPhone on their AirPods and all the time checking their Apple Watch? This is the best MagSafe charging stand we’ve seen in some time and the one which good friend would love to get,” Casey stated. “Not only does it feature a built-in fan to cool down their iPhone so it’s not warm when they pick it up but its 25W charging power leaves older competitors in the dust.”
For the typists who love to tinker
“The Keychron K10 HE first won me over with its stylish looks that mix customizable lighting with a great black (or white) and rosewood aesthetic, but I kept typing on it because it felt so good and I got so much work done,” Casey stated. “Gamers who love to customize their tech will love this keyboard even more, thanks to the ability to program the keys so they can perform certain tasks even faster than before.”
For the liked one caught with a loud night breathing accomplice
What higher present is there than the present of higher sleep? The Sleep A30 are far and away my favourite sleep headphones I’ve examined, thanks to an unobtrusive design that I neglect is even there throughout bedtime, dependable lively noise-cancellation and a sturdy library of customizable sleep sounds that saved a loud New York City and a very lick-happy canine at bay. They may even detect and block out snores, making them a should for any liked one who’s days away from kicking their sleeping accomplice away from bed.
A Game Boy for grown-ups
Even with the most recent and best gaming tech at my disposal, I spent an excellent chunk of 2025 enjoying previous Game Boy video games on my ModRetro Chromatic. This charming moveable performs all of your Game Boy and Game Boy Color cartridges, however with the trendy good thing about a wonderful backlit display screen, snappy controls and a sturdy magnesium construct that is only a delight to maintain. It even packs an important Tetris recreation proper out of the field and helps a rising library of new, ModRetro-published games, making it an important present for each old-school Game Boy followers and anybody trying to return to the easier days of distraction-free gaming.
For the Apple fan who desires the most recent releases
Headphones are all the time a subjective buy, however I really feel assured saying virtually any Apple lover in your listing will love the AirPods Pro 3. These wonderful wi-fi earbuds have a greater, extra customizable match than earlier than, supply nice total noise cancellation and audio high quality, and even sport coronary heart price monitoring for athletes like me who cannot stand sporting smartwatches. They’ve change into my every day driver from the second I put them in my ears, and I do not see that altering anytime quickly.
For your good friend who’s all the time bought their headphones on them
“We all have at least one friend who has to take their big, noise-canceling headphones off before they’re ready to fully get into a conversation,” Casey stated. “When they don their cans, they deserve to focus on the music and podcasts they love, and not the chaos around them. This is why I recommend the Sony WH-1000XM6, which I used to block out the bumps, yelps and other chaos of a recent four-hour bus I took to get to Thanksgiving.”
To win the vacations for players
If you’ve a Nintendo fan in your life, chances are high the Nintendo Switch 2 is on their listing, and for good motive. I’ve already sunk nicely over 100 hours into mine because it got here out, thanks to its clean 4K visuals, bigger display screen for moveable play and a growing library of must-play games like Donkey Kong Bananza and Mario Kart World. The new digicam options enable for a ton of foolish, social enjoyable at your subsequent household gathering, and the brand new mouse controls are good for any aggressive Fortnite gamers in your crew. It’s simply my favourite gaming console out proper now and a surefire present for any gamer who does not have one but.
For the movie-lover with a burgeoning Blu-ray assortment
“I’ve been interested in building my physical media collection, but I had been frustrated with the 4K Blu-ray player options for a while,” Casey stated. “Game consoles don’t support Dolby Vision for discs, and I’ve seen Sony’s Blu-ray players glitch out when playing scratch-free discs. I wasn’t truly confident in investing in my own physical media until I came across the Panasonic DP-UB820-K, which has been problem-free and a joy to watch movies on.” He notes that these with just a little additional cash to spend may need to make investments in the amazingly sturdy Panasonic DP-UB9000P1K.
For the PC gamer who’s all the time on the go
“The Steam storefront continues to be the breakout star of the gaming world, and while there are an increasing number of Windows-based handhelds, this is the only one I’d gift to a gamer who travels away from their setup often,” Casey stated. “That’s because this portable powerhouse runs the console-like SteamOS instead of Windows 11, so you never have to deal with Windows updates or other annoying little nuances of a PC life on a small screen. On top of the simplicity of Steam, you also get an ergonomically friendly design and powerful performance for your favorite games.”
Electronics are about as broad a class there may be, however after a decade-plus of each reviewing and gifting all kinds of electronics, I’ve picked up some pointers.
My number-one tip? Be nosy! Pay shut consideration to issues like what telephone they’ve, what kind of good gadgets are in their residence, what recreation consoles they play and whether or not they’re a PC or Mac particular person. This’ll make it a lot simpler to present them equipment and devices that’ll work inside their present ecosystem. For instance, AirPods work best with Apple merchandise (duh), and people with an Amazon Echo speaker can use it with Blink cameras, Ring doorbells, Fire TV gadgets and even different Echo audio system for candy multiroom audio. Have you heard them speaking about wanting to learn extra? Maybe seize ’em an e-reader. Do they all the time have associates over to play PS5? They’ll absolutely love a spare controller.
There are sure gifts I’d contemplate virtually infallible; you just about can’t go flawed getting them a conveyable charger (everybody runs out of battery), a pleasant case (if you realize their telephone mannequin) or an reasonably priced pair of earbuds for after they want a spare. And in fact, when all else fails, there’s all the time an excellent ol’ present card to allow them to get regardless of the heck they need. You can get them for nearly any retailer together with Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart and Target, and most shops supply digital playing cards that make an important instantaneous present for the particular person you forgot to store for till the day of, as I do know from expertise.
We know you get bored with seeing the identical present concepts yr after yr, which is why NCS Underscored editors fastidiously curate every present information to embody a choice of merchandise tailor-made to the particular person, passion or occasion you’re looking for (although, in case you’re seeing some repeat merchandise in our protection, it in all probability simply means we actually love them). To ensure every present you give is successful, we embody merchandise hand-tested by our group, foolproof presents we’ve given to somebody (or have been given), the most recent merchandise from our favourite manufacturers and different trending gadgets taking on our social feeds.
Senior tech editor Mike Andronico and electronics author Henry T. Casey have been reviewing tech merchandise for a mixed twenty years, writing complete product reviews on every little thing from smartphones and laptops to on a regular basis equipment. More crucially, they’ve been gifting tech to family members for even longer than that, from cool stuff for nephews to extra considerate, accessible tech for his or her dad and mom.