The 15 Best Last-Minute Gifts For Tech Lovers This Holiday Season

It’s less than a week until Christmas Day, so you can’t put it off any longer. If you’re gifting this season, you need to get your act together pronto. Gadgets and tech make for great gifts: if the person you’re choosing for likes an electric toothbrush, they’ll think of you every morning. Below, I’ve gathered together 15 of the best items for every budget and a variety of recipients. Some will be brands you know, others will I hope be new to you. All have been put through their paces and reviewed thoroughly so they come with a tried-and-tested recommendation.

The deals highlighted within this post were independently selected by the Contributor and do not contain affiliate links.

Philips Sonicare DiamondClean Prestige 9900

$249.96 from amazon.com, £223.52 from amazon.co.uk

The Sonicare range is unbeatably good, offering excellent brushing to ensure optimum dental health, with multiple settings and a companion app that can tell you how well you’re doing as you go, warning you if you press too hard or miss a bit. The brush head is bigger than on some rivals and has angled bristles to improve plaque removal. It’s a sonic toothbrush, which means it vibrates so fast plaque is dislodge more easily. There’s a charging base where the toothbrush stands and a travel case which charges by USB. This is great for the holidays, though the battery tends to last more than a week anyway. This is an expensive toothbrush, but look around and you can find it significantly cheaper, as in the Amazon prices above which are respectively 34% and 59% off.

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite

$139.99 from amazon.com, £149.99 from amazon.co.uk

Give the gift of reading with Amazon’s best-ever Kindle. The Paperwhite now comes with a bigger display, 6.8 inches, narrow borders around the edges and a flush-front design. Kindles are front-lit, so unlike a regular tablet which is backlit, these are much more restful on the eyes. The Paperwhite, which is waterproof so you can read in the bath with peace of mind, has a light which you can adjust in brightness and color, from white to amber. This also contributes to the restfulness of the experience. The price includes lockscreen ads which are not very intrusive, but if you don’t like them, you can pay an extra $20 to banish them. Note that the U.K. price is higher because it’s for the 16GB capacity version, while the U.S. price is for 8GB. Unless you plan on holding multiple Audible audiobooks on your device, 8GB is enough.

Nomad 65W Slim Power Adapter

$65 from nomadgoods.com

Travel adapters are tricky things: you always need several and they often have the wrong connectors on board. The new slim adapter, has two USB-C sockets in it so you can plug two devices in at the same time, and it’s powerful enough to handle a laptop and a phone at the same time. It’s designed with technology which makes it small and slim, so it can be squirreled away in the smallest carry-on. If you don’t need multiple sockets, there’s a 35W version which has one output socket on board, which costs $35. Nomad’s trademark immaculate build quality is on display here in both cases.

OOFOS OOMG Sport LS Shoe

$139.95 from oofos.com, £129.95 from oofos.co.uk

This health option concerns recovery. If you’ve been running and have overdone it, or you suddenly suffer from the annoying and painful plantar fasciitis, then you need recovery footwear. The incredibly soft foam that OOFOS owns is different from the bouncy effect you find in performance shoes—this is to help you get better. It works brilliantly and is amazingly comfortable to wear. There are different styles from clogs to slippers to mules to trainers. The website has a big range and if the person you’re gifting is in need, their feet will thank you.

OnePlus Open Smartphone

$1,699.99 from oneplus.com, £1,599 from oneplus.com/uk

Phones that open out into smallish tablets are all the rage these days and the OnePlus Open looks great, especially in its sultry green finish, and works like a dream. It feels sturdy, which is not something you can say about all foldables, and it is thinner than some rivals. The OLED panels look great, inside and out, with a matte screen protector helpfully minimizing reflections.

Some folders neglect the camera, but the rear panel here with three snappers is enormous and offers great performance. The main 48-megapixel camera is especially good and the company’s liaison with Hasselblad continues to pay dividends. The other cameras are a 48-megapixel ultrawide and a 64-megapixel periscope zoom lens. Highly enjoyable.

Sonos Era 300 Smart Speaker

Sonos pioneered great-sounding wireless speakers that were superbly easy to set up. The latest model, the Era 300, is the most versatile and best yet. Its unique shape gives you a clue that it’s designed to project audio in every direction, and it delivers sumptuous, room-filling sound. It’s designed to work with spatial audio formats. And, unlike most of Sonos’s previous devices, this one includes Bluetooth as well as wi-fi.

One of the joys of Sonos is the way you can add more speakers when budget allows. Easy set-up remains as key as ever and this is sublimely simple to get going. And using it reminds you how good your music can sound. There are plenty of other Sonos models worth a look, but this is strong on value and outstanding for audio quality.

Apple Watch Ultra 2

$799 from apple.com, £799 from apple.com/uk

You need to get your skates on for this one if you’re living in the U.S. Thanks to an intellectual property disagreement which has gone against Apple, the company is pausing sales online on Thursday, December 21, and instore sales on Sunday, December 25. Other countries are unaffected, and you should be able to buy it from other resellers in the U.S. after these cut-off dates.

The Watch Ultra 2 is brilliant—literally, as it has a 3,000 nits display, the brightest yet on an Apple Watch. It looks great and works wonderfully well. There’s an extra button compared to other Apple smartwatches, which can be configured as you like. It’s perfect to start workouts, for instance. The Ultra 2 also has the new double-tap mechanic, where you pinch your index finger and thumb together to pause a timer, snooze and alarm or otherwise interact with the watch. Battery life is two days with ease.

Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones

$429 from bose.com, £449.95 from bose.co.uk

These cans are not cheap (though if you’re quick you can snag $50 or £50 discounts) but they are tremendous. Bose is known for its class-leading noise-cancellation and that’s better than ever here, promising a quieter environment when it’s turned on. As well as quiet mode there’s an effective aware mode, and a Bose specialty: immersion mode which works in conjunction with Bose immersive audio, which works better with some tracks than others. Across the board, though, audio quality is tremendous. Superbly comfortable, even for extended wear.

Belkin AirPods Cleaning Kit

$14.99 from belkin.com, £14.99 from belkin.com/uk

This is a great stocking-filler or other small gift for anyone with AirPods. It may not be the pleasantest of subjects, but in-ear headphones can see build-up of earwax on them (I mean, the good news is at least it’s not in your ears any more, right?). It’s designed for regular AirPods rather than Pro or Max, but works with all three generations of AirPods. There’s a brush, a dispenser with wax softener in it, cleaning gel and microfiber cloth. You drip the softener into the areas you want to clean, wait for a minute, tip it out and gently scrub with the brush. After that, the cleaning gel satisfyingly picks up any debris. It’s sold as a single use package but I reckon you could clean a couple of pairs at least.

Therabody TheraFace Mask

$599 from therabody.com, £549 from therabody.com/uk

LED light therapy is used to stimulate the skin’s collagen and elastin production to make your skin look younger, which is probably something everybody wants. TheraFace is the mask from Therabody, the brilliant company that makes outstanding massagers, among other things. It has almost 650 LEDs which offer three different settings: red, blue or red plus infra-red. These variously treat fine lines and wrinkles (red), treat breakouts and blemishes (blue) and tone the skin (red plus infra-red). There are plenty of different sessions. The mask also has vibration therapy, which is relaxing and enjoyable. Tremendously good.

Allbirds Runner-Up Mizzles

$145 from allbirds.com, £135 from allbirds.co.uk

Winter wear has never been more comfortable. The exceptional Allbirds shoes are smart because they’re made from remarkable materials. They use a technologically advanced design, and have unique foam soles (made from sugar, though don’t try snacking on them). The shoelaces are made from recycled plastic bottles and there’s recycled nylon in some products and TrinoXO in others, which contains chitosan, made from crab shells. The insole is made from merino wool and castor bean oil. Wear them and you’ll feel like you’re walking on clouds. The runner-ups cover more of your ankle, keeping them warm in the winter. And the Mizzles refer to their resistance to mist and drizzle, keeping you dry, too.

Ugreen MagSafe 10,000mAh Powerbank

$69.99 from amazon.com, £49.99 from amazon.co.uk

There are plenty of battery packs on the market. What sets this one apart is it is compact and light but still manages to pack in 10,000mAh of energy. That’s enough for two charges of an iPhone 15, or one-and-a-half times an iPhone 15 Pro Max. It’ll work with other phones, too, but is best for an iPhone with MagSafe as it snaps in place. There’s also a kickstand, so you can use this to connect an iPhone 15 Pro, for instance, in landscape orientation so that it can display a clock at night, among other features. What’s more, it can charge up to three devices at the same time, though only one wirelessly, obviously.

Anker 765 USB-C to USB-C Cable

3ft $34.99 from anker.com, £22.99 from anker.com/uk

6ft $34.99 from anker.com, £25.99 from anker.com/uk

I know, a cable is about as sexy as a handkerchief or pair of socks, but here’s why you should consider this: this year, Apple’s iPhone moved to a USB-C connector instead of the previous Lightning socket. So, plenty of people who until now had more cables than they knew what to do with suddenly need a spare cable for the car, the bedroom or the travel pack in the suitcase. Anker’s cables are brilliant, offering great build quality and attractive design. They’re powerful enough to allow up to 140W output so you can be sure your gadget is charging fast.

Nomad Base One Max

$150 from nomadgoods.com

When Apple introduced its ring of MagSafe magnets on the back of the iPhone to ensure a secure and strong connection between charger and phone, it also created charging pads, but so light that when you lifted the iPhone, the pad would stay attached. However, Nomad’s handsome, well-built charger is heavy enough to stay put, however quickly you grab your phone. A rubber base means it doesn’t slip and you can choose between a dark carbide or eye-catching silver. If you have an Apple Watch as well, then the Base One Max has a charging pad for your smart timepiece, too, plus a dip into which AirPods Pro fit. There’s also a version, the Base One, that’s for iPhones only. Nomad does not supply a charging plug, believing that many of us have more power adapters than we know what to do with. Note that this needs a 30W adapter as a minimum.

Philips Azur Elite Iron

£119.99 from philips.co.uk

Now, look, you need to be careful who you give an iron to: it could suggest you expect them to smooth the wrinkles out of all your clothes. But if that special recipient has hinted that’s what they want, there’s no better choice than the Philips Azur Elite. Philips makes sensational steam irons and the Azur Elite is the top of the range. It includes something called OptimalTEMP technology which basically means you never have to set the temperature of the iron, it does it automatically, with no fear of you burning or scorching the fabric, whatever it is. It also claims that the steam control is also intelligent, ensuring just the right amount of steam is released. It heats up fast and has a steam boost to get rid of creases. Hard to beat.

Note, in the U.S., Philips has a different range of irons but are consistently well-designed and effective.

Happy holidays!