The Best Gifts for Every Tech Nerd in Your Life

Our grandparents could put a few treats in a sock and call it Christmas, knowing that their children would be delighted with an orange. These days, however, everyone from your tech-obsessed grandmother to your fashion-forward teenager wants to be impressed. Luckily, there’s a high-tech gadget for everyone.

The 2025 line of Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses has longer battery life than the first generation, as well as better AI and the ability to take longer videos. These aren’t massive improvements, but the original is so solid that it didn’t take much to improve it. Almost any tech enthusiast would be happy to have a pair of these in their stocking. I like my 1st generation Ray-Ban Meta glasses enough to put prescription lenses in them and I wear them daily. The ability to snap a photo, shoot a video, or start streaming on Instagram instantly takes the documentary-about-your-life aspect of social media to new levels, and the built-in AI and music player make it the Christmas gift of the year. Check out my full review for more details.

For fitness obsessives: Whoop Peak 5

It can be difficult to buy a gift for a health-conscious person. In general, they don’t want alcohol and they as make an effort. But the Whoop Peak 5 fitness tracker will brighten up the most die-hard athlete’s Christmas morning. It’s more versatile than a watch (you can wear it on your biceps and even in your underwear) and it monitors heart rate, respiratory rate, heart rate variability, skin temperature, blood oxygen levels, daily activity and sleep, basically everything I don’t worry about. Check out Lifehacker Health Editor Beth Skwarecki’s in-depth review of Whoop Peak 5 for more details.

For the adventurer: GoPro Hero 13

You can’t go wrong with a GoPro. The company’s easy-to-use, hard-to-break cameras are synonymous with “action photography” and are compact enough to fit in a stocking. If there’s a snowboarder, skateboarder, kayaker or BMX rider on your list, this is a must. Even if your giftee isn’t an adventurer, the GoPro Hero 13 supports additional lenses and filters that allow users to go beyond the “gnarly fish-eye, man” photography and videography of generations past. Check out Associate Technical Editor Michelle Ehrhardt’s GoPro Hero 13 review for more details.

For fans of technological toys: DJI Mini 4K Drone

Some people want tech products that make their lives easier in some way, but others want the pure joy that comes from incredibly useless toys. If you buy the latter this Christmas, I highly recommend a DJI Mini 4K drone: few have any practical use for a small helicopter, but it’s SO freakin’ cool. It takes off from the palm of your hand, flies in winds up to 38 km/h (23.61 mph), and captures stabilized 4K video in all kinds of lighting conditions. You can even set it to follow you automatically, like a little drone friend.

For the Gamer: R36Max Retro Handheld Game Console

Like the Switch 2, the R36Max retro portable gaming console lets you take your game anywhere. But unlike the Switch 2, it comes with over 18,000 games pre-installed and ready to go, so you can play every title from classic consoles like the Atari 2600 or PlayStation 1, as well as every arcade game anyone’s ever tossed a coin in, all for under $100. Damn, I paid more than that in a quarter just to beat The dragon’s lair.

For the musician/producer: Yamaha Seqtrak

I’m obsessed with the Yamaha Seqtrak. It packs a drum machine, sequencer, sampler and synthesizer into a package small enough to fit in a Christmas stocking, with room for a speaker. It’s everything you need to produce a song on your own, and it also integrates with your computer and other equipment. It’s not even difficult to understand, nor is it very expensive at $300.

For the hacker: Flipper Zero

The Flipper Zero is a must-have device for the hardcore, glasses-wearing, circuit master type of technician. Its ability to commit evil acts like hacking ATMs is greatly exaggerated, but Flipper remains a technological Swiss army knife that allows you to read and manipulate the invisible waves around you, from radio waves to RFID, NFC, Bluetooth and wifi signals. It’s educational, fascinating and powerful; how you use this power is your business.

For the scientist: Skybasic digital microscope

If you’re giving a potential Antonie van Leeuwenhoek a gift, this miniature cordless microscope will make her holidays rock. It’s easy to set up, works with PCs, Android or iOS devices, magnifies things up to 1000x and takes 1080p photos of your discoveries.

A non-tech gift for you: Slow & Low Rock and Rye from Hochstadter

Credit: Hochstadter’s

Whether you find Christmas stressful or festive, slip a bottle of alcohol into your own stocking up is the kind of self-care I support. My suggestion: slow and weak from Hochstadter. It’s an effortless drink that’s classier (and boozier) than a supermarket White Claw, and it has a retro vibe and sweet taste that pairs perfectly with the holidays.