The Best Gifts for Every Tech Lover in Your Life
Our grandparents might have stuffed sweets into a stocking and called it Christmas, confident their children would be thrilled with an orange. However, today, everyone, from tech-obsessed grandmas to trend-conscious teenagers, wants to be impressed . Luckily, high-tech gadgets are within everyone’s reach.
Feature of the Year: Ray-Ban Meta (Gen 2) Smart Glasses
The 2025 Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses feature longer battery life than the first generation, as well as improved artificial intelligence and the ability to shoot longer videos. These aren’t dramatic improvements, but the original model is so good that it didn’t need much improvement. Almost any tech lover would be thrilled to have a pair of these in their closet. I love my first-generation Ray-Ban Meta glasses so much that I installed prescription lenses and wear them daily. The ability to instantly snap a photo, shoot a video, or start an Instagram live stream takes documenting your life on social media to the next level, and built-in artificial intelligence and a music player make these glasses the best gift of the year. Read more in my full review .
For fitness enthusiasts: Whoop Peak 5
Choosing a gift for a health-conscious person can be tricky. They typically don’t like drinking and enjoy putting in the effort. But the Whoop Peak 5 fitness tracker will brighten up even the most avid athlete’s Christmas morning. It’s more versatile than a watch (it can be worn on your biceps or even in your underwear) and tracks heart rate, respiratory rate, heart rate variability, skin temperature, blood oxygen levels, daily activity, and sleep—basically, everything I don’t worry about. Read more about the Whoop Peak 5 in this article by Lifehacker’s Senior Health Editor, Beth Skuerecki.
For adventurers: GoPro Hero 13
You can’t go wrong with a GoPro. Their easy-to-use and reliable cameras are synonymous with action photography, and they’re so compact they fit in a stocking. If you have a snowboarder, skateboarder, kayaker, or BMX racer on your list, this camera is a must. Even if your recipient isn’t an adventurer, the GoPro Hero 13 supports additional lenses and filters that let you go beyond the traditional fisheye lens in photography and videography of yesteryear. Learn more in the GoPro Hero 13 review by Michelle Ehrhardt, Associate Technical Editor.
For tech toy lovers: DJI Mini 4K drone
Some people need gadgets that make their lives a little easier, while others crave the pure joy of impressively useless toys. If you’re shopping for something similar for Christmas, I highly recommend the DJI Mini 4K drone : few people will need a small helicopter, but it’s damn cool. It takes off right from the palm of your hand, flies in winds up to 38 km/h (23.61 mph), and shoots stabilized 4K video in any lighting conditions. You can even set it to automatically follow you like a little drone friend.
For the gamer: the retro-style R36Max portable gaming console
Like the Switch 2, the R36Max retro portable gaming console lets you game anywhere. But unlike the Switch 2, it comes with over 18,000 pre-installed and ready-to-play games, so you can play all the games from classic consoles like the Atari 2600 or PlayStation 1, as well as every arcade game anyone has ever played—all for under $100. Heck, I paid more than that for a quarter to beat Dragon’s Lair .
For the musician/producer: Yamaha Seqtrak
I’m absolutely thrilled with the Yamaha Seqtrak . It combines a drum machine, sequencer, sampler, and synthesizer into a compact package that fits easily into a Christmas stocking, with room left over for a speaker. It has everything you need to create your own songs, and it integrates with your computer and other equipment. It’s even easy to learn and not too expensive—$300.
For the Hacker: Flipper Zero
Flipper Zero is an essential device for the bespectacled, tech-savvy, and scam-inclined. Its potential for malicious acts, like hacking ATMs, has been greatly exaggerated, but Flipper remains a technological Swiss Army knife, allowing you to read and manipulate the invisible waves around you, from radio waves to RFID, NFC, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi signals. It’s educational, engaging, and powerful; how you use this power is your choice.
For the Scientist: Skybasic Digital Microscope
If you’re giving a gift to a future Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, this miniature wireless microscope makes a great holiday gift. It’s easy to set up, works with PCs, Android, and iOS devices, magnifies images up to 1000x, and captures your discoveries in 1080p.
A Low-Tech Gift for You: Slow & Low Rock and Rye by Hochstadter
Whether you consider Christmas stressful or festive, I’m all for stuffing a bottle of spirits in your stocking. My recommendation: Hochstadter’s Slow and Low . It’s a light drink that’s also more sophisticated (and stronger) than the supermarket White Claw. It has a retro feel and a slightly sweet flavor, perfect for the holidays.