20 of the Worst Tech Gifts You Shouldn't Buy (and What to Buy Instead)

You really shouldn’t be buying cheap Android tablets for anyone. No matter how young or old they are. This is especially true for Amazon Fire tablets—they just aren’t worth it, even at $50 or $100. If you only have a $100 budget for a gift, don’t buy them a tablet at all. (Maybe consider one of the other recommendations on this list?) Cheap tablets often perform sluggishly right out of the box, and are likely to only last about a year before they become more frustrating to use than fun.

If you want to gift someone a tablet, make it an iPad, or skip the whole thing. The $329 10.2 inch iPad is a good all around choice. It can be used to watch movies, for studying in class, and even for some light work. This model isn’t quite as powerful or feature-packed as more expensive options, but it will still last you a long time.

Did a friend or family member just buy the latest iPhone? You might be tempted to give them a nice, stylish case. And if you search on Amazon, you’ll find lots of options. You can spend as little as $10 for a clear case, or choose a cute case adorned with a funky print.

But this is not a gift worth giving. Class it up a bit—buy something they wouldn’t buy for themselves. Like a leather case.

Leather cases are classy AF. They look cool and they age with a unique patina. Apple makes nice leather cases for $60. They work with MagSafe, they allow for wireless charging, and they are lined in a soft material that won’t scratch up the painted edges of their cute blue phone. Or, check out Nomad’s leather cases. They are made with 100% American Horween leather, and they look and feel better than any other option out there. If you have a $50 budget, you can’t get a classier gift.

This only applies to the iPhone users in your life. If you’re considering getting them a smartwatch, or a fitness tracker, just don’t cheap out on it. You’ll find $50 smartwatches on Amazon, sure, but even if they’re ugly, they undoubtedly have terrible software.

Get an Apple Watch SE (or Series 8). Not only does the Apple Watch look good (and give you the option of many different colors and watch bands), it’s also the best smartwatch when it comes to usability and features. It’s great for tracking workouts, viewing notifications, and using apps on your wrist.

Maybe the person you’re shopping for doesn’t have an iPhone. Or they’d be happy with a simple fitness tracker. Something that can be relied on to count their steps, track their workouts, and, oh yeah, show them the time. You might be tempted to buy the first option that shows up on Amazon. But we would advise against buying anything that isn’t a Fitbit. It’s not a brand thing, it’s a reliability thing.

Fitbits have proven themselves to be capable fitness trackers over the years, and they come in all shapes and sizes. We suggest you go for the Fitbit Charge 5 or the Fitbit Versa 4 if you’re looking to gift something resembling a smartwatch.

Friends don’t buy friends Apple MagSafe Battery Packs. That’s common knowledge. But on the other hand, everyone can use a bit more juice in their (iPhone) life. And if they use an iPhone 12 or newer, giving them the gift of a magnetic power bank is still a really good idea.

Just don’t fall into the trap of buying either a really cheap one—but you don’t have to spring for Apple’s $99 MagSafe Battery Pack either. (We’ve already covered why it’s not a good idea.)

Instead, buy the $60 Anker 622 MagGo. It actually has a 5000 mAh battery, and will juice up their iPhone to a full charge (which Apple’s battery pack won’t).

One of the worst well-meaning things you can do for someone around the holidays is gifting them an obsolete tech product. And any accessory that doesn’t come with a USB-C port and fast charging is just that.

If you’re on the lookout for battery packs, make sure you don’t buy the first thing off the shelf. It will probably come with a USB-A and Micro-USB port. Instead, buy Aukey’s USB-C 15000 mAh Power Bank that supports fast charging for iPhones, and 18W Quick Charge 3.0 for compatible Android smartphones.

A Chromebook is a great gift for a family member who’s in school, or someone who just needs a laptop for browsing the web. But it’s easy to fall into the trap of cheap Chromebooks. Yes, a $250 Chromebook from a legitimate company like Lenovo or Acer is really tempting. But do you really want to gift an 11-inch laptop with a 720p screen, that runs on a mobile processor? You don’t.

We’re not telling you to buy a high-end $999 Chromebook either. Instead, settle for a nice mid-ranger, like the $550 Acer Chromebook Spin 713, which has a really good 2K display, and comes with a nice Intel i5 CPU, 8GB RAM, and 128GB SSD.

It’s good general advice: Don’t buy them a smart kitchen gadget. No smart ovens or smart cookers. They cost a lot, their associated apps will inevitably suck, and no one will end up using them. Go low-tech here.

Get them an Instant Pot (or, if they already have one, an air fryer). This pressure cooker is great for both slow and fast cooking. It has lots of modes, and will open them up to an infinite number of recipes to put the humble machine to good use.

The digital frame used to be a really thoughtful gift. You’d put it at the end table, load up a couple of photos, and they’ll cycle through. But it hasn’t aged well.

Instead of buying a digital frame, buy them a smart screen that acts as a digital frame—and so much more. Our recommendation is the Amazon Echo Show. It comes in lots of sizes (from 5 inches to 15.6 inches). Alexa comes built-in. You can use it for video-conferencing, watching videos, and a lot more.

The HomePod is dead, long live the HomePod. The HomePod mini isn’t nearly as good. Google’s Nest Audio devices aren’t faring much better. If you want to gift someone a smart speaker, better make it an Echo product.

The Echo Dot is fine, but the sound quality isn’t the best. The 4th Gen Echo will be enough for most users. You can opt for the higher quality Echo Studio if you think giving the gift of the best possible audio quality is really important.

And when it comes to smart home gadgets, maybe stop at a smart speaker. Don’t get tempted to give them a different class of smart home peripheral unless you are intimately familiar with their house, their office, and their needs. Come Dec. 26, you also don’t want to be on the receiving end of a phone call asking you how to set up that Philips Hue Hub.

Gamers are a tricky bunch to buy for. So asking works best. Ask them if they want a particular game, or a console for the holidays. If someone’s into casual gaming, get them a Nintendo Switch.

But if you know someone who already has an Xbox, PlayStation, or a gaming PC, the best surprise gift you can get them is a gaming subscription. Xbox Ultimate Game Pass includes access to more than 100 games, including Microsoft’s own flagship titles like Halo Infinite and Forza Horizon 5. Plus, it enables online multiplayer. This pass works for PCs as well. On the PlayStation side, the PS Plus membership includes access to new games every month, and online multiplayer.

Even if they are already subscribers, they will appreciate it if you pick up the tab for six months or a year.

Usually, we refrain from suggesting any gift that’s too out there unless you know it’s what they want. It’s best not to gift someone a complicated drone, or smart glasses, or a high-end VR headset, unless they’ve asked for it.

But if you must, we’ll make an exception for the Oculus Quest 2. Only because it’s an all-in-one VR headset that’s genuinely fun to play. And it’s a great gift for your entire family. You can spend the holiday setting it up and ring in the new year with a super fun adventure or shooter game.

Gifting a power adapter is an easy choice. You can never have enough of them, especially now that Apple no longer bundles them with new iPhones. A multi-port power adaptor will go a long way in making anyone’s life easier, allowing them to charge multiple devices at once. The instinct though, is to either buy a cheap $10 option from Amazon, or get something from Apple, which is ridiculously expensive, and equally slow in charging.

Instead, look at Anker’s vast portfolio of chargers. You can go for the tiny Nano charger with fast charging (while still being half the size of Apple’s charger). Or, you can go for a more expensive Anker 735 GaN charger with 65W fast charging, and three ports.

Wireless headphones and earphones make for a great gift. Cheap $50 earphones will do an okay job when it comes to phone calls. But if you actually want to enjoy music or media, a good pair of headphones is a must.

And if you want to gift someone earphones, we suggest you go for Sony WF-1000XM4. They have a terrible name, but they make up for it with industry-best audio quality and noise cancellation. Plus, they last longer than even the AirPods Pro.

It’s best not to gift any networking gear to anyone, unless you want to spend three hours on troubleshooting calls, which is why even a fast, high-end wifi router makes for a bad gift.

But if you want to improve a friend’s wifi network, there is a saner option. You can gift a mesh wifi kit. These kits are available from multiple manufacturers at different price points. They are easy to set up, everything is controlled by an app, and all important security measures are enabled by default. Plus, there’s no admin page to configure.

TP-Link’s Deco W7200 is a great tri-band network with Wi-Fi 6. At $230, this is budget-friendly, fast, and easy to use. You can also check out Eero 6, for a more user-friendly option.

If you know a photography enthusiast, the last thing you should do is gift them any photography gear. Chances are, they are very specific about their gear, and know what they want.

What you can do instead is surprise them with a cute instant camera like the Fujifilm Instax Mini. This camera instantly prints out old-school Polaroid-style photos in seconds. Everyone loves to wait for them to quickly develop and see how they came out. I’m a photography enthusiast, but every time someone hands over an instant camera print, I’m always delighted.

If you think the Instax is a bit too cute, you can gift the retro-looking Polaroid Originals camera as well.

Want your friend to be the life of the party? Give them Bluetooth speakers. Ones that last long, are rugged enough to go anywhere (including underwater), and can be paired in party mode. You’ll find many cheap Bluetooth speakers on Amazon. Some of them from brands like Anker and Tribit are actually quite good.

But still, if you’re gifting this to friends or family, you should add a bit more money, and get them something that will sound great, and will last for years. All things said and done, the JBL Flip 6 is well worth the money.

Want to gift your friend a drone? And you have a $500 budget? Boy, are you getting some brownie points. But if you’re going to go down this route, make sure you get the DJI Mini 2, and only the DJI Mini 2. It costs $450, which is really not bad for this small 249 grams drone (no need to register with FAA in the USA) that has pretty good anti-collision tech.

The drones cheaper than this, don’t have the same 4K video recording, or stable flight dynamics. And the next best drone costs upwards of $1000.

We all know that one friend or family member that’s always forgetting their stuff. They might benefit a lot from an AirTag (or three). If they’re using iPhones, it’s much better to gift them AirTags instead of third-party products like Tile, since AirTags work with the entire Apple ecosystem and Find My network.

After recent security updates, AirTags are much better at the whole blocking stalkers thing. And the sheer utility of putting an AirTag in a travel bag, keychain, or laptop bag cannot be overstated. Gift them a pack of AirTags, and you’ll reduce their travel stress considerably.

Can’t decide what to buy for someone who already has everything, or doesn’t want anything? A gift card is a great out. But buying a gift card from a particular store, or even a gift card for Apple or Google Play, is a big mistake.

These gift cards can be really limiting. And they might even end up going to waste. This is why the only gift card you should gift someone is an Amazon gift card. Because Amazon has literally everything. Even if they’re the kind of person who won’t spend $100 on a gadget, they can still use it to buy groceries. Sure, it feels inauthentic to give a gift card, but if these people don’t want to get gift cards, they shouldn’t be so hard to buy for.