Men and boys are notoriously difficult to buy presents for, or so we’re told. So if you’ve found yourself head-scratching for what to put under a tree this Christmas for a man then don’t worry we’ve got your back.
Our list covers all budgets: from something to put in his stocking, to something that’ll blow his socks off, this is where to find it.
Christmas Gifts under £20 for him
Anker Soundcore Mini
Although technically it just scrapes over the £20 bar, we’re including it anyway, and you won’t regret the extra pennies spent. That’s because the Anker Soundcore Mini just packs in so much sound and features for such a small speaker. Bluetooth? Check. Aux? Check. And it also has MP3 playback over microSD, a mic for hands-free calls and, the truly oddball extra, a built-in FM radio so you can even get some Christmas radio on the go. All able to fit in the palm of your hand as well. Santa can’t top that.
Read our full Anker Soundcore Mini review
The Room (Switch)
Christmas stockings are all about puzzles that’ll tease your brain while the turkey settles and way into Boxing Day – at least that’s what we believe. The Room on Switch capitalises on the latest craze of escape rooms and condenses that down to a device. And as you search for clues, keys and hidden panels it’s infused with just the right amount of horror to keep you alert for the rest of the holidays.
Check out our full The Room review
Christmas Gifts under £50 for him
Amazon Echo Dot (3rd Gen)
If you’re looking to splash out a bit more on a speaker, with Alexa chucked in, then Amazon Echo Dot is the way to go. Smart home control is where Alexa really shines, with the range of supported products huge, ranging from the Dyson 360 Eye robot vacuum cleaner to Philips Hue bulbs and beyond. You can create routines to control multiple devices together. So if he needs a little help in the house then look no further.
Read our full Amazon Echo Dot review
FIFA 19
What makes a better winter present than a reminder of summer? And by summer we mean football. The greatest football game has a new edition with so many new modes and other great treats with you’ll almost believe that football came home after all.
Read our full FIFA 19 review
Call of Duty Black Ops 4
Keeping with the Christmas means time for games and what better to twin with FIFA than the latest from Call of Duty? After successfully claiming the World Cup you can then shoot your way right through to the New Year on Call of Duty Black Ops 4.
This year’s CoD has done away with the single player campaign and expanded its three distinctive multiplayer segments so the whole family can work their way through the leftovers whilst shooting the hell out of each other across PvP mode, a cooperative zombie mode and a battle royal called Blackout.
Check out our full Call of Duty Black Ops 4 review
Christmas Gifts under £100 for him
Amazon Kindle
Perhaps though multiplayer shoot everything in sight is not exactly his style and he needs a good excuse to escape the family seek out some solitude. In which case Amazon enter our list for a second time with another budget version of a gadget, this time with its no thrills Kindle.
It may not have all the design quirks or fancy features of more eminent e-books, see Kindle Voyage if you’re a stickler for backlight or high-resolution displays and want to spend a little more, but for only £60 the Kindle does exactly what an e-reader should. It gives you the ability to turn a hardback collection into one 6inch portable device and grants you access to Amazon’s online book collection. It’s reading done simply and done well.
Read our full Kindle review
Amazon Fire HD
OK – It’s a hat-trick of Amazon budget gadgets, we know. But when they’re cramming in this much bang for your proverbial buck there’s not a lot can you argue with. The Amazon Fire HD 8 combines the best of an e-reader, with an 8-inch screen to access Prime and Alexa thrown in as well. Basically if you were reading this list and had it narrowed down to the Kindle and the Amazon Echo Dot, then this has just solved your problem into an all achieving tablet that comes in way under £100.
Though to truly get the most out of it we recommend splashing out an extra £30 to get the ‘Show Mode’ charging dock addition.
Head over to our full Amazon Fire HD review
Audio-Technica SonicFuel ATH-AR3BT
Solid wireless headphones, which are made for good sound rather than use in a gym in mind, for less than three figures are becoming increasingly difficult to find. The Audio-Technica SonicFuel ATH-AR3BT are simply good quality headphones that deliver a great audio performance with aptX Bluetooth for better sound compression and do not bother to try to do any unnecessary extras.
Check out our full Audio-Technica SonicFuel ATH-AR3BT review
Christmas Gifts under £200 for him
Spotify (year’s subscription)
Staying with music, what makes for a better Christmas present than one you can keep enjoying until Christmas next year? Not much in our book. For any wannabe music aficionado or for over a year’s access anyone with even a passing interest in music would love unlimited access to the over 35 million songs that make up the Spotify library.
In addition its strongest features includes making collaborative playlists with friends, so you can share with him some tunes for an upcoming party or just educate him with some music. It’s the gift that will keep on giving for both of you all through the year.
Read our Spotify Premium review
Moto G6 Play
If music is already sorted for the year and beyond then what he’ll need is a phone with enough storage to make the most out of it when commuting or stuck in the snow over the festive period. The Moto G6 Play provides a generous amount of space, for its price, at 32GB. It loses some of the added features of the Moto G6, which you could get for an extra £50, such as higher-resolution camera and better camera. But if he’s more about having a practical phone that has storage and keeping standard features, that are becoming increasingly luxury, like a headphone jack then this phone ticks all the boxes.
Read our full Moto G6 Play review
Withering Steel HR Sport Watch
Need some motivation to run off some Christmas turkey, the Withering Steel HR Sport Watch is here to monitor every step taken. First and foremost though it is a watch, and designed to look as such, with the fitness tracker as a secondary function. That said it is quite an extensive secondary feature possessing, on top of the basic things like heart rate and step counter, 30 different work outs that it can track including activities like zumba.
Check out our full Withering Steel HR Sport Watch review
Expensive Christmas gifts for him
Panasonic FZ950/FZ952
If he’s been exceptionally good this year then look no further than the Panasonic FZ950/FZ952 OLED. There’s really not too much to expand on. You like film? TV? You like watching crisp defined pictures with powerful sound? Then this top of the range 55-inch, different sizes available, Panasonic TV is up there with the best of the year.
Head over to our full Panasonic FZ950/FZ952 review
Need more Christmas gift ideas? We’ve got you covered
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Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
