Some of our favorite gifts will cost you less than $25

8BitDo’s Micro is a pocket-friendly, 16-button wireless game controller compatible with iOS, Android, and the Nintendo Switch. It can make playing mobile games easier compared to tapping a touchscreen, and is perfect for playing NES, SNES, Game Boy, and Game Boy Advance titles on the Nintendo Switch.

A waterproof speaker should look good and sound good, too. Altec Lansing’s Mini H2O has an IP67 rating, floats when dropped in water, and has a built-in loop so you can attach it to a backpack with the included carabiner. The company claims its battery lasts up to six hours per charge. If you get two speakers, they can be paired together for stereo sound.

Bluetooth earbuds are all the rage, but you’d be surprised how often a wired pair comes in handy. Apple’s EarPods have a surprisingly good microphone, never need to be charged, and should work with all your USB-C devices. An inline controller on the earbuds’ cable lets you change your volume and pause or skip tracks.

Bananagrams is a chaotic word game that can bring out the competitive side in anyone. The objective is to use tiles to create words that branch off of one another. The game is done once one player uses all of their tiles and the shared pool of tiles is empty.

A wireless charging pad is a practical way to charge your gadgets without being tethered by a cable. Anker’s Qi2 15W MagGo pad is compatible with the iPhone, Android phones, or earbuds inside a wireless charging case. The pad snaps to your iPhone with magnets. For gadgets without magnets, the charging pad is large for easy alignment.

A power bank is an essential travel gadget, and Baseus’ 22.5W model is feature-rich considering its low price. It has a built-in 8.6-inch retractable USB-C cable, so you’ll always have a cord with you, along with USB-C and USB-A ports to charge two more devices. Its 10,000mAh capacity is enough to fully recharge a smartphone with juice to spare.

Bentoheaven’s stackable bento box is slicker than most lunch bags. It comes with two large, 7.3-inch containers, a divider to help keep foods separated, and a smaller container for stashing snacks. The top container even has a compartment in its lid for utensils, and a velcro strap prevents the bento from opening in your bag.

GE’s 800-lumen Wi-Fi bulbs serve as a great entry point for making your home a little smarter. The color-changing LED bulbs work with Alexa and Google Assistant without a hub, and they support Matter for interoperability with Apple Home, making them a great choice if you’re unsure which smart home platform your giftee uses.

Using a physical notebook isn’t as convenient as dashing off quick ideas in your phone’s notes app, but putting pen to paper can feel more satisfying. Field Notes’ 48-page notebooks are pocket-friendly at 3.5 inches wide and 5.5 inches tall, and their graph paper makes them useful for sketching diagrams in addition to jotting down notes.

Nobody should have to pay for a streaming service or cable just to watch live events like the Super Bowl, World Series, or Oscars. GE’s HDTV antenna can receive a TV signal from up to 40 miles away. Which channels you’ll get depends on your location, but CBS, NBC, Fox, PBS, and ABC are some of the most common stations that’ll be picked up over the waves.

Staying hydrated is harder if your beverage spends most of the day sitting at room temperature. Hydro Flask’s 32oz tumbler is made from dishwasher-safe, BPA-free stainless steel, and it can keep beverages hot and cold for several hours. It’s big, but the tumbler’s tapered bottom can fit in car cupholders, and its handle makes it easy to carry.

Looking at your phone for directions while driving is very dangerous, but iOttie’s One Touch car mount can keep it at eye level for easy glancing when you really need to look. The suction cup mount has arms that grip your phone to prevent it from falling, and there’s even a cutout to hold your charging cable. It’s compatible with most smartphones — even larger devices like the iPhone 17 Pro Max.

If you want to fix electronics instead of replacing them, you’ll need the right tools for the job. Kaisi’s 136-piece kit includes the spudgers, picks, tweezers, and screwdriver bits (111 of them!) to get inside gadgets and replace parts. The kit also has an anti-static wristband so you don’t accidentally short a motherboard with a shock.

There’s nothing quite as nostalgic as building a Lego set. The 484-piece Medium Creative Brick Box contains the pieces you’ll need to make your own custom scenes, plus specific bricks to create Lego vehicles, animals, and other objects — including a windmill and toaster. The pieces come in a giant Lego brick-shaped bucket for easy storage.

A cast iron skillet is one of the few gifts that could last a lifetime. Lodge’s 10.25-inch skillet is big enough for cooking multiple burgers or pancakes at once, or baking biscuits or cornbread for a crowd. If you’ve never cooked in cast iron, remember not to soak it in water, and season it with oil fairly frequently.

A white noise machine can help you sleep or concentrate when silence is too boring, or when music or podcasts are too overstimulating. It can play 20 sounds, including blue noise, pink noise, rain or ocean sounds, or a fan. You can set the machine on a timer to turn off after one to four hours, or run continuously.

Your desk could probably use a fun distraction to help you unwind a little in the middle of the day. The Mini Buddha Board lets you create ephemeral sketches using water and the included brush. Once the water evaporates you’ll be left with a blank board to create a new work, no cleanup necessary.

If your old TV struggles to run streaming apps well (or at all), consider Onn’s 4K Streaming Device, which runs on Google TV. It supports Dolby Vision HDR and all your favorite apps, from Netflix and Disney Plus to YouTube. Recommendations are pulled from across services, and you can even use Google Assistant to search for shows and movies using your voice instead of the remote.

Finding the right video game to gift can be a challenge, but Paladone’s cartridge-shaped coasters are a fun alternative for fans of the 8-bit era. Each coaster features cover art from a popular game from that era — whether it be Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, or Metroid — and each can be hand-washed should a beverage spill on it.

For older cars without built-in Bluetooth, get Scosche’s BTFM9, which can bring wireless music streaming to its speakers. It has USB-C and USB-A ports for charging gadgets and a Bluetooth transmitter inside. Once it’s paired to your phone, the BTFM9 can stream audio from your phone over an FM frequency picked up by your car’s radio antenna. It’s a simple, tool-free upgrade for almost any car.

SnapPower’s GuideLight can illuminate your dark hallway without permanently giving up an outlet to a nightlight. It replaces the cover around your duplex outlet receptacle and draws power by attaching its built-in prongs to screws on the side of your outlet. Once connected, the lights on the bottom of the GuideLight automatically turn on once it gets dark.

A big roadblock to learning how stuff works is getting immediately bogged down by jargon. Author Randall Munroe sidesteps that in Thing Explainer by using the thousand most common English words to describe how bridges, data centers, helicopters, and the tectonic plates (and more!) work. The explanations are complemented by drawings that literally illustrate what’s going on.

Everyone has felt the sinking feeling of losing their keys. Tile’s Mate is a Bluetooth tracker designed to fit onto your key ring. If you forget them, you can check the tracker’s location using an app to retrieve them. The Mate also has an SOS button you can push to subtly alert friends and family members you’re in an unsafe situation.

A smart plug adds functionality to an existing gadget rather than replacing it. Once the plug is connected to your Wi-Fi network and a gadget, you can turn it on and off using an app. TP-Link’s Tapo smart plug supports Matter, so you can add it to whichever smart home platform you use.