2026 Gifts of the Year: Perfect presents for anyone on your list

Zooey Liao/Popular Science We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. Learn more › Choosing great gifts is a skill. It’s something you only get to practice a few times each year, but we live in every day. The shopping team here at Popular Science prides itself on its ability to scour the broad landscape of products and hone in on the perfect present for just about anyone. And while we evaluate hundreds of products every year, some clearly stand out as ideal gifting candidates. We’ve compiled a group of ideal products that are guaranteed to make the recipient feel at least a little bad because you have thoroughly defeated them in the gift-giving game. Best gift for people who love spending time on the trails: HOKA Speedgoat 7 GTX HOKA Speedgoat 7 GTX $180 See It Waterproof trail shoes usually look and feel too bulky and—let’s be honest—kind of nerdy. The Speedgoat 7 GTX keeps the regular Speedgoat 7’s supercritical EVA midsole and Vibram Megagrip outsole, then wraps them in a GORE-TEX Invisible Fit membrane and a recycled Cordura upper. It’s a lot of technical materials, but they’re wrapped in a design that actually looks cool with a pair of jeans. Toggle laces work with gloves on, there’s a loop for attaching gaiters (sold separately), and reflective details run all the way around for dark November runs. We recommend going up a half-size from your giftee’s typical number for a better fit. Brick $59 See It This little device gives the gift of time that would otherwise be spent doomscrolling. Phone screen-time limits are easy to dismiss because the override button sits right under your thumb. Brick moves the override into another room. The $59 block has no battery, just an NFC chip. You pick the apps to lock in the free iPhone or Android app, tap your phone to the Brick, and those apps stay locked until you walk back and tap again. One Brick works with multiple phones, so a household can share it, and the app includes five emergency unlocks per device for real emergencies. It requires iOS 18 or Android 12 and later. Brick is also HSA and FSA eligible, which makes it a stocking stuffer you can buy with pretax money. Best gift for the aspiring creator: Insta360 Luna Ultra Insta360 Luna Ultra $769.99 See It Insta360 made its name with 360-degree and action cameras, and the Luna Ultra is its first pocket gimbal camera, co-engineered with Leica. The main camera pairs a Leica Summicron lens with a 1-inch sensor that records up to 8K at 30fps, and a second telephoto camera on a 1/1.3-inch sensor handles zoomed shots and background blur. A three-axis gimbal keeps footage steady while you walk. The 2-inch OLED touchscreen pops off and works as a wireless monitor and remote, so you can frame a shot of yourself from across the room. It’s a serious content creation tool that’s fun to use, which is a rarity. Best gift that might get you free pizza: Gozney Arc Lite Gozney Arc Lite $399.99 See It You don’t need a massive backyard to have a true outdoor pizza oven. The propane cooker weighs 26.4 pounds and measures 16.9 inches wide, yet Gozney rates it to reach 950 degrees Fahrenheit, which is more than enough to put a perfect char on a true Neopolitan style pie. Gozney’s lateral rolling flame wraps heat over the top of the pizza while a 12mm stone floor stores heat for the crust. An infrared thermometer makes a smart add-on gift, since the oven won’t tell you when the stone is ready. You’ll selfishly also probably get some free pizza out of it. Best gift for upgrading any living room: LG Gallery TV LX7B LG Gallery TV LX7B Starting at $799.99 See It A 65-inch black rectangle is a lot of nothing to stare at when the TV is off. LG’s Gallery TV LX7B fills that space with art. The 4K Mini LED set has a matte screen that cuts reflections and a snow-white magnetic frame that snaps onto the bezel, and when it’s idle it can display pieces from LG Gallery+, a library of more than 5,000 works (some features require a Gallery+ subscription). It runs webOS 26 with Google Gemini built in. Whether the receiver is a film buff or a die-hard design enthusiast, this TV fits the bill. Best gift for someone with sore muscles: Theragun Mini Plus Theragun Mini Plus $279.99 See It This is a product we use every single day. The Theragun Mini Plus is Therabody’s smallest heated massage gun, and its attachment warms up to 131 degrees Fahrenheit across three heat levels. It has three speeds, two buttons, USB-C charging, and a travel lock that keeps it from switching on inside a gym bag. Therabody says heat plus percussion works three times faster than percussion alone, based on its own lab testing. You can run either therapy by itself, too. Don’t think this is only for hardcore gym rats. It’s great for people who just want to relax of even improve their sleep. Best gift for the next big streamer: Razer Seiren V3 Pro Razer Seiren V3 Pro $249.99 Razer If you know a budding streamer or podcaster, this is a gift that grows with them. The Razer Seiren V3 Pro has both USB-C and XLR outputs, so it plugs straight into a PC now and into a mixer later when they upgrade their setup. It’s a dynamic mic with a 30mm cardioid capsule, a type that picks up less of a noisy room than most condensers. Onboard processing runs AI noise removal, a compressor, and a limiter on the mic itself, and Windows users can record 32-bit float audio through Razer Synapse. A tap-to-mute button, an RGB ring that shows mute and gain status, and an adjustable desk arm all come in the box. Best gift to help kids develop a healthy relationship with tech: Skylight Buddy Skylight Buddy $139.99 See It The nightstand device, built for kids roughly 4 to 10, walks one child through morning, after-school, and bedtime routines a step at a time with visual prompts that work for kids who can’t read yet. It also handles alarm clock, sound machine, nightlight, and OK-to-wake duty. It has no camera or microphone, and kids can’t browse the web or download apps on it. Skylight sells it for $139.99, and the optional $39-per-year Buddy Plus plan adds rewards, timers, and read-aloud messages. Best gift for friends who always have a dead phone battery: Anker MagGo 2 Pro Anker MagGo 2 Pro $109.99 See It Fast wireless charging makes a magnetic battery pack hot, and heat makes phones slow their charging down. Anker’s fix in the MagGo 2 Pro is a tiny fan. The 10,000mAh pack charges at up to 25W over Qi2.2, and Anker says the fan keeps its back under about 97 degrees Fahrenheit while it works. Anker rates it to take an iPhone 17 Pro to 50 percent in about 25 minutes. A screen shows battery level and charging speed, a built-in stand props the phone up for in-flight movies, and the USB-C port refills the pack at 45W. It costs $109.99. Older phones, including the iPhone 15 Pro, top out at 15W. Best gift for someone who needs a smart home assistant: Google Home Speaker Google Home Speaker $99.99 See It Google hadn’t released a new standalone smart speaker since the Nest Audio in 2020. The Google Home Speaker is built around Gemini for Home instead of the old Assistant, so you can stack several requests into one sentence or correct yourself mid-command. It plays 360-degree sound from a 58mm driver, two of them pair with a Google TV Streamer for surround sound, and it doubles as a Thread border router and Matter hub. It costs $99.99 and includes six months of Google Home Premium, which adds Gemini Live and continued conversation. After the trial, Premium runs $10 per month. Best gift for someone who is trying to cut down their energy usage: Shelly Plug Gen4 Shelly Plug Gen4 $19.99 See It A $20 smart plug makes a surprisingly good energy audit. The Shelly Plug Gen4 measures real-time power draw from whatever is plugged into it, so you can see how much that garage fridge or space heater actually pulls. It connects over Matter, Wi-Fi, or Zigbee, works with Apple Home, Google Home, Alexa, SmartThings, and Home Assistant, and can run locally without touching the cloud. It handles loads up to 1,800 watts, with cutoffs for overheating, overcurrent, and voltage problems. Its built-in LED can change color to reflect current energy use. It costs $19.99 in black or white. Best gift for people who need peace and quiet: Sennheiser MOMENTUM 5 Wireless Sennheiser MOMENTUM 5 Wireless $399.95 See It If you know someone constantly struggling to make work from the road work, the Sennheiser MOMENTUM 5 Wireless headphones are an audio oasis they will appreciate for years to come. The hybrid noise cancellation, 8-band graphic EQ, Snapdragon Sound, and other personalization features cut the noise and sculpt the sound, perfect for open-office escapees and in-control commuters. And a long-haul battery life delivers up to 57 hours of runtime, so playlists won’t run out somewhere over the Atlantic. Plus, the battery is user-replaceable, reducing e-waste and extending ownership. This is the perfect gift for music-loving control freqs. Best gift for those about to rock: Denon Home 200/400/600 Denon Home 200/400/600 Starting at $399 Denon Sonos isn’t the only way to fill a house with speakers that talk to each other. Denon’s redesigned Home lineup runs on HEOS, which can link up to 64 speakers across a home, and the three sizes scale with the room. The $399 Home 200 plays stereo from three tweeters and a 4-inch woofer. The $599 Home 400 adds two upward-firing drivers for Dolby Atmos Music, and the $799 Home 600 packs eight drivers, including dual 6.5-inch woofers, each with its own amplifier. All three take Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, USB-C, and aux. The stone and charcoal finishes look more like something from a furniture store than an electronics aisle. Best gift for the host of movie night: Bose Lifestyle Ultra Bose Lifestyle Ultra Starting at $299 See It The Bose LifeStyle Ultra Home Theater Set is perfect for homes that struggle with the volume of content and components. From the soundbar to the wireless satellites and subwoofer, everything is compact and design-conscious, perfect for a minimalist who doesn’t want to sacrifice expression. Bose SpeechClarity uses AI enhancement to make dialogue more audible without having to ride the volume constantly. CustomTune calibrates immersion to the room’s actual acoustics. And when it’s not movie night, stream music via AirPlay 2/Google Cast, no app required. Add more speakers later for a multiroom setup, making this a great gift for someone who wants to scale up a whole-home setup without sacrificing space. 2026 Popular Science Home of the Future Awards 39 products that will improve your everyday life.