Buying a good Father’s Day gift can be tough for those on a budget, especially if your dad already knows his way around technology. Sometimes they’ll say they don’t want anything, other times they might buy the thing you’re looking to gift without giving anyone a heads up. If you need help brainstorming some ideas, we’ve rounded up a few of the better items we’ve tested that are priced below $50. From mechanical keyboards and security cameras to luggage trackers and power banks, each has the potential to make your dad’s day-to-day life a little more convenient.
Bluetooth trackers have made it a lot easier to keep tabs on things that you simply cannot lose. If pops tends to lose his keys, bags or other important items, the Chipolo Pop could be a low-cost way to restore some peace of mind. The Pop is a small, colorful plastic disc that works with both Apple’s and Android’s device finding networks and quickly notifies you when something is no longer on your person.
In our tests, we found the separation alerts to be worth the price of admission alone, serving prompt notifications the second the app detected an item was no longer with us. It’ll direct you back to the spot where the phone and the tracker were last paired, perfect for someone who may often forget things. It also has a replaceable battery. Apple’s AirTag is still great for iPhone owners too, but the Pop has a louder ring by comparison, plus it can attach to dad’s keychain without needing any third-party accessories. — Matt Brian, Former Senior News Editor
For the dad who often forgets to charge his phone before leaving the house, the Anker Nano Power Bank is a compact battery that attaches directly to the bottom of a device through a built-in USB-C connector. A tiny pack like this isn’t designed to fully recharge a handset: As we note in our guide to the best power banks, it provided a 65 percent charge to a Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra in roughly an hour. But it’s handy as an emergency lifeline for a phone on the verge of death, since the whole thing is about the size of a lipstick case and won’t force your dad to remember any cables.
The included connector folds back into the device, making it harder to break, and there are four indicator lights to give you a sense of how much juice the bank has left. The battery linked here will work with Android phones and recent iPhones; if your dad is using an older Apple device, know that Anker makes a similar (albeit slower) model with a Lightning connector as well. — Jeff Dunn, Senior Reporter
A longtime favorite of Engadget senior reporter (and outdoor gear connoisseur) Billy Steele, the Brümate Hopsulator Trio is a versatile koozie that can hold 16-ounce or 12-ounce cans with an adapter you can stash in your freezer. If you want to ditch the cans entirely, it can also serve as a tumbler, complete with its own lid. We’ve found it to insulate drinks successfully and hold cans securely, so it should delight if your dad could use a new beer holder ahead of his beach hangs and outdoor excursions this summer. — J.D.
If dad has passwords with “123456” in it, instead of shaming him, consider directing him to a password manager instead. Sure, most browsers come with their own built-in password tools, but 1Password’s subscription service operates across a wide variety of devices, browsers and operating systems. It’ll save all of his passwords and suggest stronger ones and handle two-factor authentication requests but that’s not all: Give it addresses, card details and other important information and it’ll reduce the time and effort it takes to fill in all of those annoying online forms. — M.B.
JLab’s Go Sport+ should be a nice fit for any dad who needs a cheap set of beater earbuds for the gym. For $30, it offers a solid eight-to-nine hours of battery life, passable (if somewhat compressed) sound and a water-resistant, around-the-ear design that stays securely in place during busy workouts. There’s no active noise cancellation, auto-pausing or multi-device connectivity, and its case relies on a permanently affixed USB-C cable to charge. But it’s a good buy for those on a budget, especially if your dad already owns more premium headphones and doesn’t want to ruin them with sweat. You can read more about this pair in our guide to the best budget wireless earbuds. — J.D.
If your dad loves flying but hates having to put up with the basic headsets airlines provide for their inflight entertainment systems, help is at hand. Thanks to wireless adapters like the Twelve South AirFly SE, he can use his own headphones in places that only have a headphone jack, like in the air and in gyms. Twelve South offers a range of AirFly adapters that cater to specific circumstances: The affordable SE is featured enough for most flyers, but others like the newer AirFly Pro 2 offer multi-device pairing, an AUX port, slightly longer battery life and better audio quality specs for $60. — M.B.
If dad has a Nintendo Switch or plans on buying a Switch 2, then he’s probably already pretty up-to-speed on the Nintendo eShop. Every so often, the company will reduce a wide range of first-party and indie games, allowing you and dad to build out your collection for a lot less.
To help dad take advantage of those sales, you can gift him some eShop credit — not an especially creative present, but one that should be appreciated whenever it comes time to buy that pricey new Mario Kart game. If he prefers to play on PlayStation, Xbox or Steam, meanwhile, swap in one of those platforms’ gift cards instead. — M.B.
Not every dad is handy with tools, but if yours likes to take things apart just to be able to put them back together again or prefers to fix things rather than buying new stuff, iFixit’s Essential Electronics Toolkit could come in handy. With a bunch of precision bits, tweezers, suction handle, SIM eject tool and sorting tray, this kit is perfect for DIY screen replacements or opening up a tablet or laptop to fix a worn-out component. It’s also great for eyeglasses, should dad need to repair them, too. iFixit sells several other toolkits as well, if this one doesn’t have all the bits he might want. — M.B.
Nobody is saying that dad needs to lose or gain weight, but if he’s looking for a better way to track his body measurements, a smart scale could help. Make no mistake: The Aria Air isn’t as fancy as some of the smart scales on the market – complete with body composition metrics and Wi-Fi connectivity – but it’s an accurate, handsome and easy-to-set-up scale that tracks body weight and BMI. If your dad already has a Fitbit smartwatch or tracker, it’ll slot in alongside his existing exercise data, giving him a nice snapshot of his overall fitness and body health. One catch: It doesn’t officially support Apple’s Health app; if you need that, check out the other picks in our guide to the best smart scales. — M.B.
One part of building a smart home is incorporating “non-smart” electronics (an old lamp, for instance, or a coffee maker) into your network. Smart plugs are a relatively straightforward way to make that happen, and TP-Link’s Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Plug Slim (EP25) is our current favorite of the bunch. Apart from being affordable — a four-pack has frequently been available for less than $40 — it’s a breeze to set up, and it works with the major smart home platforms: Amazon Alexa, Apple Home, Google Home and Samsung SmartThings. (It doesn’t support the newer Matter standard, though.)
Through its app, your dad can monitor the energy usage of their connected devices, control them with voice assistants and set timers and routines to ensure nothing’s left on for longer than it has to be. For the paranoid, there’s also an “Away” mode that randomly switches devices off and on to give the impression that people are home, even when they’re not. — J.D.
A security camera can be useful not only for deterring porch pirates, but also for capturing irrefutable proof of wrongdoing. Blink sells a range of indoor and outdoor home security gear, but its 1080p Mini 2 camera is a solid choice for keeping an eye on pets or potential unwelcome guests in the dead of night. Its IP65-rated design is weather-resistant enough to survive indoors or out (it even has a built-in spotlight for better recording color video at night), plus it supports motion detection alerts and two-way audio. As Blink is an Amazon subsidiary, the Mini 2 also works well with Alexa, so it’s a sensible choice for families who already own an Echo speaker. Just be aware that features like cloud storage and person detection are locked behind a subscription fee. And to save video locally, you need to add Blink’s Sync Module 2 and a USB thumb drive. Still, for less than $50, the Mini 2 is a better value than most cams. — J.D.
Most newer televisions come with streaming apps built in, but sometimes the older and slower “dumb TV” in the back room needs some love as well. Amazon’s Fire TV Stick 4K is an easy way to smarten it up. It still pushes Amazon services like Prime Video and Freevee above everything else, but it runs quickly, supports all of the major streaming apps and has handy voice controls with its Alexa-equipped remote. It’s also cheap, with discounts often dropping it to around $30, plus it’s surprisingly useful as a gaming device.
If you see Amazon’s higher-end Fire TV Stick 4K Max on sale, that one adds Wi-Fi 6E support, more storage and a faster chipset, but the difference isn’t enormous, and the Max’s $60 MSRP sits outside our price range here. Roku’s Streaming Stick 4K is another perfectly decent option with a simpler interface if your dad isn’t as big on Amazon, but he should expect to see ads on either device. — J.D.
The 8BitDo Ultimate 2.4G Controller is a versatile alternative to a traditional Xbox gamepad that works easily across Windows PCs, Macs, Steam Deck and mobile devices. It connects over Bluetooth, wireless dongle or USB cable and notably uses magnetic Hall effect sensors in its joysticks, which means it’s much less susceptible to developing the dreaded “stick drift” than traditional controllers. While it might feel a little cramped for those with particularly large hands, its shape doesn’t have any weird curves or quirks, and all its inputs are appropriately crisp to press. Battery life is decent at 15-ish hours, too, and the whole thing comes with a slick charging dock.
If dad wants to get hardcore, 8BitDo’s companion software offers a wealth of customization options, such as adjusting the sensitivity of the triggers or assigning macros to certain buttons. 8BitDo sells a few different variants of this controller, which can get confusing: This is the best one with an MSRP under $50, but another model works with the Nintendo Switch and uses that console’s button layout, while the newer Ultimate 2 pad adds a few extra buttons and features for $60. — J.D.
The HyperX Cloud Stinger 2 is a nice value for any dad who wants to keep in touch with their buddies over video game party chat. The top budget pick in our guide to the best gaming headsets, the Stinger is comfortable to wear for hours at a time and its built-in mic does well to keep voices clear. It’s a simple wired model, but it works without issue across PlayStation, Xbox and PC as a result. And while it doesn’t sound especially balanced, its V-shaped signature gives explosions, gunshots and other in-game effects some real oomph. — J.D.
A microSD card isn’t the flashiest gift, but it is practical. If your dad is always running out of storage on his dash cam, drone or Nintendo Switch, the Lexar Professional Silver Plus is the top pick in our microSD card buying guide. It’s neither the cheapest nor the absolute fastest card we’ve tested, but it strikes the right balance of all the necessary features. It’s plenty fast for shooting 4K video, transferring files or loading games, and it’s reasonably affordable, with the 256GB model usually available in the mid-$20 range and the 512GB version often on sale for $40. Just be aware that it’s not a microSD Express card, so it won’t work with the new Switch 2. — J.D.
Mechanical keyboards are an acquired taste, but the deeper feedback they provide with each press can make everyday typing more pleasurable. If your dad is interested in shaking things up, Keychron’s C3 Pro is a great first step into the hobby. As we note in our mechanical keyboard buying guide, its keystrokes feel soft and springy. While it’s not out-and-out quiet, it gives off a pleasing clack with each press. You do lose some niceties for the price: It’s not wireless, the base model has a red-only backlight and the ABS keycaps can start to feel slick over time. Still, it should be an immediate comfort upgrade over a laptop-style membrane keyboard all the same. Best of all, it costs well under $50. If your dad happens to want features like RGB backlighting and the ability to swap in new switches down the road, Keychron also sells a variant that supports those for just over $50. — J.D.
