Buying tech gifts during the holidays is always a good way to show your appreciation for your loved ones, but it can be tricky to get right. After all, whether they’re deep into the Apple ecosystem, have a self-built PC with a powerful GPU, or haveone of the latest Windows laptops, the chances are the receiver of your gift already has most of the tech they’ll need. That’s okay, it really is the thought that counts, but there are a few things you can keep in mind while picking out that gift before the final wrapping that will make things go smoother when it’s time for unwrapping time.
So you’ve searched high and low and found the perfect tech gift for your loved one. Before you even hit the buy button, there’s one thing you should do. That’s to find the button or checkbox that identifies this as a gift, so that the online store gives you a gift receipt to include in the wrapped present. Buying electronics is a highly personal thing, and not every gadget is a good fit for everyone.
5 Do include a gift receipt
Don’t saddle the recipient with an expensive gift they don’t want
So you’ve searched high and low and found the perfect tech gift for your loved one. Before you even hit the buy button, there’s one thing you should do. That’s to find the button or checkbox that identifies this as a gift, so that the online store gives you a gift receipt to include in the wrapped present. Buying electronics is a highly personal thing, and not every gadget is a good fit for everyone.
Getting a gift receipt makes things easier all around, as they can return it for gift cards to find something more to their tastes, and you don’t have to feel worried that they didn’t appreciate your gift. Because, trust us, they did (and the thought behind it). But again, tech is highly personal and can be divisive. Some people won’t use certain brands or could be deeply in the ecosystem of one brand so far that buying anything else might not work properly. Let your recipient return it and get something similar in value, and they’ll appreciate it even more. Plus, if you notice the new gadget, you’ll have another point of reference for next time.
When you buy discounted products on Black Friday or Cyber Monday, you’ll get access to helpful extended return periods
4 Pay attention to ratings and reviews
This is key to finding the right fit when given a category to shop for
If you’ve been given a rough idea of what they want but lack specific brand names in that category to look for, it’s time to check out online reviews. But even then, the ones on the retailer you’re looking at might be skewed one way or the other, as people often write reviews of things that broke or didn’t meet expectations, even if the negative reviews are a small percentage of the overall sales. They might not, though, as, again, lots of negative reviews are often an indicator of design problems with that device. And positive reviews can be skewed through influencer programs or straight-up cheating, so it’s hard to tell if that one-star or five-star review is legit.
That’s why, once you have a few options in mind, it’s time to search for those specific brand models on sites like XDA, if it falls under computing, or any other reputable publication, blog, or YouTube channel that does in-depth reviews. We review things from the perspective of our users, which any other reputable site will do as well. Once you’ve got confirmation of whether the item is good or not, it’s time to check CamelCamelCamel or my favorite, Keepa, to look for the best deal. Or not, you might not be worried about saving much, but if you have many people to gift things to, any savings add up quickly.
ModRetro Chromatic review: Nostalgia, turned up to 11
Emulating hardware to play original cartridges is my favorite kind of emulation.
3 Don’t pick something just because it’s popular
Even white elephant gifts deserve a little more thought
There might be a temptation to look at whatever tech gadgets are trending and pick something near the top of the list. Please don’t. Well, not unless you’re buying tech for someone still in grade school, in which case your options should be gift cards, gaming consoles, gaming console accessories, and then whatever trendy tech is topping the lists, in that order.
Gift giving is also supposed to be thoughtful and give the recipient something useful at the same time. Well-reviewed, popular, and spendy gadgets say more about the person giving the gift than anyone else, partly that you don’t know them well enough to pick something closer to their interests and also that you want other people to see you as an affluent gift giver. But then again, you did remember to include the gift receipt, right? Maybe it’s okay because they can return it and use the gift card to get something they really wanted.
You might think some GPUs are popular for a reason, but better alternatives always exist
2Unbox it and test it before wrapping
You’ll want to do any updates and ensure batteries are inside or charged
The days of unwrapping a gaming console or other piece of tech and getting straight into actually using that piece of tech as intended are long gone. Well, except for a few exceptions, like handheld gaming consoles that use the original cartridges from the console they’re reproducing. For everything else, especially gaming consoles, you want to open them, update them, and carefully rebox them. That way, on the morning of the holiday, the recipient can open it, plug it in, create a suitably punny username, and get to playing whatever games it came with (and you did remember to install those and update them, too, right?).
That’s good advice for most people, especially the younger members of your family who won’t have the patience to go through loading screens and wait while thousands of other gifted consoles try to download updates from straining servers. The only time you really want to leave off is if you know the recipient prefers to install their own devices, in which case they’ll enjoy the setup process, and it saves you a few hours of time. Even if the tech doesn’t need updates, it’s still a good idea to charge them up and test basic functions, just in case something is wrong.
If you want a portable battery that can charge all your devices in style, this can be a leading candidate
1 Consider age-appropriate tech
As long as it’s for safety reasons, rather than ageism
While it doesn’t really matter what tech gifts you get for most age groups, there are a few when it’s really, really important to get something age-appropriate. That’s when the recipient is under the age of majority, and you have to worry about privacy concerns, what their parents allow and don’t allow, and other things that make the decision more complex.
Even if they’re not in that age group, it’s always easier to pick a gift when you consider the type of person you’re buying for. Are they college students, new parents, or have recently shifted job categories or fields? Or it could be something less age-specific, like if they’re foodies, or like watching movies, or have an extensive music collection. The trick here is to pick something that’s suitable for the age group or life stage while saying more about the recipient’s hobbies, likes, or other interests. Again, it’s down to having a picture of them in your mind to work towards, rather than thinking what’s a cool tech thing that anyone might like.
The internet at large can be a scary place, but you can make it much safer for your kids with some good security practices.
Gifting tech is only difficult because they might have everything you can think of already
If you’ve got a good idea of the type of person that your gift is going to, you’re already way ahead of the pack when it comes to picking out presents. Whether it’s gadgets, accessories, software, or even DIY kits so they can build their own things, knowing their interests makes it easier. Just be careful that you’re not picking up on the one DIY kit that someone else got years ago, and they can’t bring themselves to get rid of or similar one-offs that might mean your carefully planned tech gift falls flat. Even so, you’ve included the gift receipt, so they will be able to get something more suitable while still appreciating the thought that went into your gift.
