Looking for a great gift, but not quite sure what it is you’re looking for? Our shopping experts have explored the depths of Amazon and found a variety of gifts you can get within a range of budgets for occasions just like this.
We’ve compiled a list below of our favorite gifts on Amazon, and we’ve split them up by price range to make it easier to find just the right gift for your budget. Keep in mind that Amazon offers free shipping on most things if you have a Prime membership, which is especially helpful if you’re scrambling to get a gift at the last minute. Scroll on to find the best gifts on Amazon for your friends, family members, co-workers and more.
Gift ideas under $30
Gifts in this price range are fun goodies that would be perfect for children or co-workers. My kids love to get these kinds of presents as they like getting lots of small fun things, rather than one big, expensive present.
Newlam/CNET
My son loves to play the piano, but it isn’t the easiest thing to carry around. This fun little Kalimba lets him plink away at something that offers a small but beautiful sound when we’re out and about and the urge to be musical strikes him.
Kitchen Gizmo
Many home cooks have tried to balance a pot lid so that it’s open just enough to pour water or oil through but not enough to let the food fall out. Sometimes it works; often it doesn’t. This cool little gadget makes that entire process easier by clipping to the edge of your pan and acting like a colander to strain off liquid without losing your delicious food.
Wizards of the Coast/CNET
I’m an avid tabletop gamer and I love giving these starter kits out to friends and family. Many people want to learn about Dungeons & Dragons but don’t know where to begin. This box has everything you need to start your first adventure.
Imagination is the key to a good D&D campaign, but you also need rules and dice. This set gives you both.
Amazon
The Echo Dot is in just about every home in America, right? You can’t seem to go anywhere without seeing two or three of them scattered around on people’s desks or kitchen counters. They can be difficult to place if you have limited counter space.
I use this hanger to hang the Echo Dot from an outlet, and it helps to declutter, especially as the cords and charging block fit neatly inside the hanger too.
Hasbro
Children have been obsessed with dolls that pee and poop for years and these dolls are among my daughter’s favorite. They come with a few tubs of Play-Doh that you can use to make food in the little press, then you can feed the doll that food and easily take it out from the back of the doll afterward. If you don’t mix food and water, it should stay clean for as long as your toddler wants to play with it.
James Bricknell / CNET
Seeing the CMY cube in person for the first time is almost magical. On the surface, it’s a glass cube with the colors of cyan, magenta and yellow — hence the name CMY Cube — but as you spin it around the colors mix, showing you more colors in the spectrum.
I’m sure there are a lot of benefits to this when it comes to teaching color theory, and I know that it can help stimulate children with learning difficulties, but my main reason for giving this as a gift is the sheer joy of it. It’s a simple cube that fires my imagination and I love it.
Seseno
This is one of the many cases of “TikTok made me buy it” that you will see while looking for gifts this year. We ended up buying several sets of these to organize everything from our pantry to our bathroom drawers. These kinds of organizers aren’t the first thing people think of to buy themselves, which makes them a great gift.
Gift ideas under $50
This price is similar to the “under $25” category in that these are gifts you can buy more than one of. When you venture into the “under $50” realm, they’re more likely to be useful or have a better quality than the cheaper products on this list.
Sunrisy
My wife loves a chunky knit throw. She says it’s the perfect balance between warm and cozy and lightweight. It looks great and comes in a variety of colors to compliment the decor in your home. Right now, the black color is on sale for just $40. This is the perfect gift for someone who likes to snuggle up on the couch to watch their favorite shows.
Anker
Over the last few years, phone makers haven’t included charging bricks with new phone purchases. It makes sense, but it means that people are using old chargers that are slow compared with the maximum charge rate their phone is capable of handling. Make sure your loved ones have a power brick worthy of the latest and greatest device with this fast charger from Anker. It’s way faster than those offered by almost any standard manufacturer.
Sarah Tew/CNET
A portable wireless speaker is a great gift for the music lover in your life. The Tribit XSound Go is one of our top choices for a budget-friendly Bluetooth speaker. It offers surprisingly good sound for its size and price, and it’s fully waterproof.
Exotic Club
Did you know that KitKats in other countries taste very different from American KitKats? It’s true, and Japan takes it to a whole new level with tons of different flavors. This variety pack may seem a little pricey for candy bars, but if you have a chocolate lover in your life, they will likely appreciate this as a gift.
Govee
These smart lights from Govee are an upgrade to the lights further down the list. They add an ambient light behind your TV or gaming rig and can move to the music. With the Govee app, you can select the color and brightness you want.
Govee has managed to build a strong reputation for delivering excellent quality products on a budget, and these lights show why. They feel a lot more expensive than they are. Be sure to apply the coupon at checkout.
Jabra
Battery Life Rated up to 7 hoursNoise Canceling NoMultipoint NoHeadphone Type Wireless earbudsWater-Resistant Yes (IP55 — protection against low-pressure water streams)
The Jabra Elite 3 headphones are Jabra’s most affordable true-wireless earbuds to date and have a fairly basic feature set, though they offer strong sound and call quality for the money. They have 6mm drivers, four microphones for calls and Jabra’s HearThrough transparency mode. Qualcomm aptX HD audio is supported for aptX-enabled devices.
Battery life is rated at up to 7 hours on a single charge at moderate volume levels, with the case storing an extra three full charges (28 hours total). They have an IP55 water-resistance rating, which means they can take a sustained spray of water and are also dust-resistant. As with a lot of other new buds, you can use either bud independently in a mono mode.
While they don’t have such extras as active noise canceling, the Elite 3 earbuds offer solid performance and a comfortable fit for a reasonable price.
Brookstone
Opening wine bottles can be an unpredictable, tricky process. Many people — my wife included — still use the old twist corkscrew to open bottles and invariably get some cork in the wine. With this kind of opener, that issue is resolved and the speed at which you can remove a cork is increased by a huge amount. It looks really clean and sleek with the stainless steel and black finish. I ended up buying one for my wife and she likes it enough to want to use it more often.
Gift ideas under $100
These gifts are a little more expensive but still affordable enough to buy one or two for someone you care about. I like getting these kinds of gifts for my best friend or as additions to my wife’s main gift.
Victrola
Vinyl records never really go out of fashion as they give an audio experience that’s hard to match in today’s digital age. Victrola makes a line of budget-friendly vinyl players that keep that retro feel while adding in some modern smarts like Bluetooth connectivity. While the onboard sound is only average, the outputs let you connect it to a proper set of speakers that offer a rich and enjoyable sound.
My wife bought me this Union Flag version, as she knows how much I love my homeland. It also looks awesome on my shelf of things I love.
James Bricknell / CNET
While this beautiful gel-fueled fire pit can be used indoors or out, it’s perfect for indoor use. The Gel fuel is odorless and doesn’t release toxic fumes into your air, so you can roast up some marshmallows no matter what the weather is like outside.
Gift-giving can be hard, but if you know someone who loves s’mores all year round, then this is an excellent choice.
Silonn
I think we can all agree that ice-cold drinks are delicious. This little ice maker is incredibly easy to operate, and because it doesn’t tap directly into your water line, you can put it anywhere. All you have to do is fill it with bottled or filtered water and it will make delicious clear ice, in two different sizes no less, whenever you need it.
Apple/CNET
If you know someone who travels frequently or misplaces things all the time, this is the perfect gift. These little item trackers can be slipped into purses, luggage and wallets or attached to keys and many other things. With four of them in this pack, they can put them in multiple spots for easy tracking.
James Bricknell / CNET
A good belt is an investment. I know that seems overblown, but it’s true. I have some really good belts that I’ve owned for 20 years, and they’re still going strong. The Groove Life belt feels like that. The buckle on the one I tested is a walnut veneer that looks great and the magnetic clasp holds everything together tightly. The belt material is tough but has a little give. The stretch isn’t so much that your pants fall down if you have heavy stuff in your pockets, but it has enough room to breathe when that meal is a little bigger than you thought.
Clorox
I know air purifiers might not be the most glamorous present, but they’re one of those gadgets you don’t know you need until you have one. This little tabletop version is small enough to not be intrusive but large enough to filter a good-sized room twice an hour. It can remove animal dander and can significantly reduce mold spores, viruses and bacteria in the air.
If you know someone who works from home in a stuffy office all day, this little device can make them feel a lot better.
Gift ideas under $250
These are more extravagant presents that you would buy someone you care about as their main gift. If you’re buying for your significant other, you could buy something from this list, along with one or two from the list above to round out their experience.
James Bricknell / CNET
The first time I saw the Meater Plus, I knew I had to use it. I live in Southern California, and the weather is pretty much always good enough to throw a rack of ribs or a spatchcock chicken on the grill. I do a lot of cooking out in the backyard, but a lot of it takes a long time to cook. You want to cook slowly and evenly on a grill to keep the juices in.
The Meater Plus lets me put the temperature probe into the meat, close the grill lid, and maintain a connection to my phone. Not only is the connection tremendous, but if you tell the app what meat you are cooking, it can work out the resting time too, giving you a perfect piece of meat every time.
Mobvoi
The Ticwatch E3 is a lot like plenty of other Android watches. It tells the time of course, but it also tests your heart rate and tracks your steps. It can even help you track your sleep to help you better understand what makes you wake up. One of the best things about the Ticwatch is its battery-saving mode. When it gets low, it turns off a lot of the extraneous software and just runs as a normal watch until you can charge it again. This extends its usability past one day, which I love.
Buy this for a loved one who wants to have a smartwatch but is often forgetful of charging devices.
Russell Holly
The Cricut name is synonymous with vinyl cutters around the world, for good reason. These machines are simple to use, have decent software and can use a wide variety of blades and materials. There may be more professional vinyl cutters out there, but as a gift to a creative family member, you can’t go wrong with a Cricut.
David Carnoy/CNET
Battery life Rated up to 40 hoursNoise Canceling Yes (ANC)Multipoint NoHeadphone Type Over-ear wireless headphonesWater-Resistant No IP rating
If you know someone who’s always wanted a pair of Beats headphones, right now is a great time to purchase them. The Beats Pro usually retails for $350, and right now you can get them on Amazon for just $170. That’s back down to their all-time low price. Read our Beats Studio Pro review to learn more about their sound quality and performance.
Image: Microsoft Browser extensions are useful because they bring additional functionality to your web browser, allowing you to do things like track price histories for […]
Perplexity bills itself as an AI-empowered direct alternative to Google. Whereas Google operates a search engine, Perplexity aims to operate an AI answer engine that […]
