48 Best Tech Gifts They Wouldn’t Dare Return

Glasses that can take photos or videos, play music into your ears, and read you a street sign in a different language—weird, but the nerd in your life will enjoy them.

There’s no shortage of portable projectors on the market, but the issue with most of them is user interface. Xgimi fixed this by actually licensing Google TV for the MoGo 3 Pro. The result is a portable projector that just works seamlessly. Netflix, Disney, HBO Max—it’s all there with simple log-in processes.

This is a great one for parents of young kids. Anywhere they end up, they can put together a movie night.

If they’re a note-taker, doodler, or someone who just loves to write everything down by hand, this is the perfect gift. It’s a notebook and smart pen combo that sends everything you write to the cloud. It helps keep digital notes and sketches organized and easy to return to.

Meater’s newest smart thermometer is our pick for the at-home chef in your life. We’ve written about it at length, but essentially it offers a ridiculous amount of precision when baking, grilling, or cooking on the stovetop.

These are the trendiest headphones right now. Beneath the minimalist design, they have noise canceling and battery life that can last days. For only the coolest trend chasers on your gift list.

If they truly care about audio quality, they won’t fuck with Bluetooth. These are the headphones for all the audiophiles and viny die-hards in your life. If you don’t quite understand them, that’s fine; just know they will appreciate a gift as thoughtful as the Porta Pro.

If they love to read, a Kindle is the best way to carry 70 books at once without your back feeling it. And the Paperwhite is our favorite Kindle in years, with the most eye-friendly screen yet.

So many people we know want an old-fashioned tea kettle with the quickness and accuracy of an electric kettle but without the BS. That’s the Fellow Kettle. We love it.

So your buddy watches too much Food Network. Get them this smoker and they can feel like a Chopped champion.

It’s a measuring cup. It’s a super-easy digital scale. It’s both in the same package for under $40. That screams great gift.

This is an Esquire-certified gift. Seriously, my partner got this for me and I’ve become obsessed with my little basil sprouts ever since. I’m dying waiting for the harvest to come.

If they love animals or nature and have a backyard, get them a smart bird feeder and turn them on to a new hobby. This is the best one.

If you have a teen in the family, get them this little HP printer that will turn any phone-camera picture into a Polaroid. Kids are already into everything analog, but hopefully this will really kick-start an obsession with physical media.

We’ve written plenty about this thing, but it boils down to this: It’s a bedside charger and catchall that looks nicer than any other tech item. The saddle leather gives it a classy look. If they have an iPhone and messy bedside table, this is a solid option.

Traditionally, we’ve had a hard-line stance that adults should not own colorful LED lights. But the Philips Hue collection can connect to music and TV, and it displays in tasteful, muted shades… We’ll allow this one.

The most iconic, most useful piece of tech on this list. We’ve been on this shit for like six years at this point. It’s a smart mug that will keep their drink at a precise temperature for hours at a time. No more microwaving coffees. Ever.

These might not be ideal for your brother who swam collegiately. But for your husband who swims laps at the YMCA for low-impact cardio? Oh baby, this is as good as it gets. The Form Smart Swim 2 coaches on a whole load of things, but the most useful aspect is that it can beam split times in front of them as they’re swimming. No more “Feels like a bad split; I should speed up.” They can know exactly where they’re pacing.

Here’s a gift idea: the Esquire Gadget Award–winning mattress attachment that gives them the best sleep of their life and records better data than any wearable ever could. The new baseline model of Eight Sleep has half the features we loved from the Pod 4 Ultra. The Eight Sleep Pod 5 Core will cool them off to go to bed and warm them up so they can wake up at their desired time. It’s the most futuristic item on this list.