Gizmodo Senior Author James Pero’s 8 Favourite Tech Presents of 2025

‘Tis the season! The season of giving! And by “giving,” I mean the vibe this time of year is giving, “What in capitalism’s title do I purchase for all of those freaks (my mates/household) for the vacations?”

For me, James Pero, a senior author right here at Gizmodo who makes a speciality of audio, good glasses, and just about any AR/VR/XR face ‘puter, my solution in this high-stress situation is obvious: everyone’s getting a gadget. (Oprah voice) You get a gadget, and you get a gadget, and you get a gadget! Because, whether or not they understand it or not, everybody likes a toy, and among the finest ones occur to have silicon in them. But you’ll be able to’t simply choose any previous gadget, as a result of the very last thing your family members want is one other overglorified lithium-ion battery gathering mud of their residence.

Instead, get them one thing cool; get them one thing helpful; get them one thing that I, a person of self-described impeccable style, would purchase. Get them, I don’t know, one thing on this checklist you’re about to learn.

8. Soundcore Sleep A30

Part of the artwork of gadget giving has nothing to do with devices, however every thing to do with discovering a steadiness. As good as a SodaStream is, it doesn’t essentially scream, “I see you, and I hear you.” Finding one thing that’s each helpful and practical, although… That’s the place the magic occurs.

In my opinion, nothing says helpful and practical like Soundcore’s Sleep A30 wi-fi earbuds, which aren’t your common pair. As you might have gathered from the title, the Soundcore Sleep A30 are all about serving to you block out noise whilst you sleep, and in that quest, they’re surprisingly adept. I examined a pair myself and have continued to make use of the Sleep A30 past my testing to silence the all-hours noise of two cats. They’ve been a lifesaver, to say the least.

These wi-fi earbuds are designed from the bottom up for consolation, so you’ll be able to put on all of them evening together with your ear pressed into the pillow like I do, and the energetic noise cancellation (ANC) is far, a lot stronger than you’d count on. Soundcore additionally supplies numerous sorts of soundscapes for blocking noise, focus, and leisure, and features a intelligent answer to the entire battery life difficulty (downloading a soundscape to the buds to play regionally) that ought to assist its Sleep A30 final a full 8 hours.

If you recognize somebody—anybody—who wants white noise after they sleep or must suppress a companion’s loud night breathing, the Sleep A30 may very well be a godsend. Hell, it’d even save a wedding.

See Soundcore Sleep A30 at Amazon

7. PreSonus Studio 24c USB-C Audio Interface

If you recognize anybody who likes to document their very own music and is perhaps simply beginning out, then an audio interface may very well be the right present. This one from PreSonus, which I personal myself, has been greater than stable for the value. There are two inputs for devices / mics, each with their very own preamps, and in addition two five-pin ports for MIDI gadgets within the again for issues like keyboards.

Without nerding out an excessive amount of, all you actually need to find out about this audio interface is that it’s versatile, reasonably priced, and extremely simple to make use of. Audio interfaces prolong the variety of inputs and enhance the standard of recorded sound, that are essential issues whenever you’re recording!

I like to make music, however I’ve by no means been a brilliant nerd about audio gear, and I can say from private expertise that this has been simply the right ratio of professional-to-amateur performance for me—one which makes recording in GarageBand sound so much much less shitty.

See PreSonus Studio Audio Interface at Amazon

6. Final Fantasy VII & VIII Remastered (Nintendo Switch)

I’m such a sucker for nostalgia, and nothing within the gaming world (outdoors of perhaps Kingdom Hearts) makes me all heat and fuzzy inside just like the Final Fantasy video games I performed rising up. To match the ’90s nostalgia, you’ll be able to present the old-ass gamer in your life a bodily copy of Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VIII remastered for the Nintendo Switch.

Having performed each, I used to be grateful that when instances have been powerful, I might coddle my mind with reminiscences of taking part in these video games in an period the place nothing mattered a lot. Plus, for $40, they’re sort of a steal. If you recognize somebody who grew up with a PS1 of their life and now owns a Nintendo Switch or Switch 2, it is best to closely take into account including this to your present checklist. Either that or I’m sending you straight to the good pizza within the sky (the actual heads know what I’m speaking about).

See Final Fantasy VII & VIII Remastered at Amazon

5. Drinks by the Dram Tasting Set

Fun truth: consuming isn’t a nasty behavior in the event you’re pretentious about it. Sorry, I don’t make the foundations. For these of us who’re snobby about what we drink, there’s no higher approach to broaden our data (and our ABV) than with just a little pattern of a whole lot of issues. Drinks by the Dram (a dram is a unit of alcohol measurement, by the best way) sells curated units of various spirits in tiny bottles relying on what you’re into.

Know somebody who loves Speyside whiskey? You’re in luck. How about Islay whiskey? They have that too. Hell, they even have units for the handful of people who find themselves actually particular about completely different sorts of spiced rum. I haven’t gifted anybody a set myself, however I’ve been gifted a bourbon set prior to now, and I can inform you from firsthand expertise that the curation is top-notch. For those that partake, I bought a Weller 12-year, which is similar to the oft-lauded (and perhaps overhyped) Pappy Van Winkle. Yes, these are all actual issues; look it up.

I do know this one isn’t tech, however distilling spirits is its personal sort of know-how… proper?

See Tasting Set at Drinks by the Dram

4. Whisker Litter-Robot 4

There aren’t a whole lot of issues I can say definitively on this world, but when there’s one reality I do know to be absolute, it’s that a number of individuals love cats, however no one likes cleansing their cat’s litter field. For the cat lover in your life, give the present of not having to cope with the smelliest a part of proudly owning a lovable little fur gremlin by shopping for a Litter-Robot from Whisker.

Whisker sells fairly a number of fashions now, however the Litter-Robot 4, which my companion owns, is a good mixture of options and comfort. This unhealthy boy can maintain sufficient waste for as much as 8 days in a one-cat family, is carbon filtered for odor functions, and shops the used litter in a drawer that may be simply eliminated and emptied.

If you’re actually into figuring out your cat’s, uh, knowledge, you may also use a companion app to trace issues like weight, how continuously they use the field, and observe metrics on if the Litter-Robot is full and whether or not you must get your lazy butt off the sofa and empty it. The Litter-Robot 4 may not be low-cost, however for these with sufficient area (this factor is fairly massive), it may very well be price each penny for somebody who loves their cat however not the chores that include it.

See Whisker Litter-Robot 4 at Amazon

3. Fujifilm Instax Mini 40

Instant cameras are so again. I’ve by no means actually been a lot of a digicam man myself, however after I was gifted Fujifilm’s Instax Mini 40, my thoughts modified fully. This retro-inspired instantaneous digicam has been big (figuratively, not actually) for with the ability to seize particular moments on the go and assist adorn my naked fridge with the locations and other people I like to take a look at.

The Instax Mini 40 is as simple to make use of as any instantaneous digicam and comes with some good options like autofocus and just a little mirror on the entrance for taking selfies. If you’re feeling additional considerate, you’ll be able to even buy a case to verify this factor doesn’t get smashed to smithereens when it inevitably will get dropped. The wonderful thing about instantaneous cameras is that you simply don’t have to be a professional photographer to make use of one. Instant cameras are all about capturing the second rapidly, warts and all, and with out having to drag out your telephone and face the specter of all these icky apps inside.

See Instax Mini 40 at Amazon

2. Fortnite V-Bucks

I’m going to confess one thing that I don’t prefer to admit… I like to play Fortnite. That’s proper. I’m a giant dumb child who likes massive dumb child video games. So what? I’m clearly not alone in that love, both, since final I checked, Fortnite was sort of, type of, widespread. That means there’s a excessive likelihood somebody you recognize both overtly (or secretly) additionally likes to romp across the metaverse and pew pew till their final remaining mind cells beg for mercy.

I can’t inform you what number of V-Bucks to present with a present card (for these not within the know, V-Bucks are in-game foreign money that can be utilized to purchase skins, and so forth.), however it is best to know {that a} stable pores and skin normally prices round 1,500. If you will get over how inane this present is, it is best to belief me after I say that anybody who performs Epic Games’ battle royale shooter will thanks after they lastly get to bust a cap in Homer Simpson’s ass whereas cosplaying as a xenomorph from Alien.

See V-Bucks at Fortnite

1. Nothing Headphone 1

Sure, you possibly can do the identical factor everybody does and get the audio lover in your life a pair of Sony WH-1000XM6, or you possibly can take the less-trodden strategy and go together with Nothing’s Headphone 1, which look so much cooler and nonetheless have nice sound. They’re additionally much more reasonably priced than different pairs of wi-fi headphones like AirPods Max, which is nice in your general vacation price range.

I examined the Headphone 1, Nothing’s first entrant into the world of wi-fi headphones, and was stunned at what number of marks this pair excelled in. Just as a result of they’re not the highest in classes like sound or ANC doesn’t imply they’re not nice, both. The sound, which was tuned by hi-fi audio firm KEF, is a serious spotlight for me.

Like I stated, this pair may not be the highest in each class, however for anybody in your life who has been identified to understand a cool think about devices, they’ll doubtless scratch that hipster itch.

See Nothing Headphone 1 at Amazon