35 amazing Christmas gift ideas for under £50
Only got £50 to spend? Hit the Christmas bullseye with one of these awesome gifts
Only got £50 to spend? Hit the Christmas bullseye with one of these awesome gifts
Christmas is almost upon us but if you hurry there’s still time to pick up that special gift for someone.
Whether you’re buying for an eco-friendly cyclist, a globe-trotting coffee addict or an uncomfortable gamer, there’s something here for everyone – and not a single one will cost you over £50.
Horse Head Squirrel Feeder (£11.88)
Squirrels: who do they think they are, raiding our bird feeders and flaunting their bushy tails like feather boas? Turn the tables and mock your nut-gathering garden visitors with this replica of the iconic horse head mask, perfectly sized for their little rodent frames. It’s funny because they don’t know what they look like.
Buy a Horse Head Squirrel Feeder here
Beyerdynamic Byron (£45)
A barnstorming stocking-filler if ever there was one, Beyerdymanic’s Byron headphones are a surefire upgrade from those ropey white buds you got bundled with your last phone upgrade. Why? They’re great value money, giving you sound that’s on par with significantly more expensive buds. A Bluetooth version (£99) is also available if you’re on the wireless bandwagon.
Buy a pair of Beyerdynamic Byron earphones here
Atari Flashback 8 (£47.99)
Nintendo’s SNES Classic Mini not quite retro enough for you? Just can’t get hold of one no matter what? This plug ‘n’ play remake of the classic ‘80s console comes with two wireless controllers (or you can use your old ones if you can find them) and 105 games built-in, so even if none of them are quite as good as F-Zero you can always play the quantity card.
Smart Retro Pop-Up Hot Dog Toaster (£34.99)
Can one really be considered a foodie if one doesn’t love hot dogs? We’re not talking about that deconstructed, wild boar and truffle nonsense, either. No, we mean a proper, mustard ‘n’ onions frankfurter in a cheap and cheerful bun. This toaster is the only weapon you need to make your own. It’ll even do two at a time, in the unlikely event that you want to eat one and give another away.
Buy a Smart Retro Pop-Up Hot Dog Toaster here
Nomatic Basics Wallet (£25)
Bulging wallet ballooning with business cards? Cut down on the clutter with this minimalist beauty. The Nomatic provides one-handed access to your most used card (that cake shop loyalty card, naturally), while securing four others behind a pull-up tab. A secret pocket can even swallow a few folded notes and coins, for when you spot a stunning sculpture at the market.
Buy a Nomatic Basics Wallet here
Ikea Riggad (£49)
For too long humanity has been tormented by wires. Thankfully, wireless charging is here to liberate us from their plug-in tyranny. Ikea’s Riggad lamp has an in-built wireless charger, so you can charge your phone whilst enjoying some bedtime reading.
Philips Bodygroom Series 7000 (£47.98)
As the hair on your head disappears, it seems to pop up with increasing regularity everywhere else. If you know someone who’s getting a bit Planet of the Apes, this showerproof shaver can be used anywhere below the neck, with adjustable clippers at one end and an articulating, hypoallergenic foil at the other for eliminating even the shortest of hairs.
Buy a Philips Bodygroom Series 7000 here
Wacaco Minipresso (£49.99)
Quitting your job to travel the world might sound like a swell idea, until you find that the baristas of Brunei aren’t so hot on doing espresso the way you like it. Give this mysterious cylinder’s semi-automatic piston a few pushes and, by the power of pressure, you’ll have delicious joe wherever you go.
Veho Kasa Smart Bulb (£22.07)
The cost of a Philips Hue addiction can seriously mount up. Thankfully, these colour-changing bulbs are a cheaper bet: they can be controlled from smartphones and scheduled to turn on and off. Sure, they’re a little dumber than the real deal, but do you want smart mood lighting in the shed, or not?
Buy a Veho Kasa Smart Bulb here
Amazon Echo Dot (£34.99)
Amazon’s little helper is a hands-free darling when you’re too stressed by Christmas Day carnage to type. What’s more, she’ll help with that most principal danger: boredom. Connect the Dot up to a Bluetooth speaker and – if you’re not dealing with a turkey drama – you can while away the festive afternoon by dragging up retro hits via Amazon Music or Spotify.
Codenames (£12.71)
An addictively smart party game, Codenames is simple but ludicrously tense. 25 random words are laid out on the table, and two captains have to help their team guess their assigned words using single-word clues. “Furious, five” would hint that five words on the grid have something to do with anger, or maybe the Fast and the Furious movies. Be careful, though! Finding the board’s “assassin” word instantly ends the game.
Anker PowerCore II 10,000 Power Bank (£27.99)
Modern technology might allow you to stream YouTube compilations over 4G in the back of a Sri Lankan Tuktuk, but one enemy will always remain: flat batteries. Put paid to empty cell syndrome with this whopper of a power bank from Anker. With a 10,000mAh capacity, the PowerCore II is slim enough to slip into a jacket pocket and can zap Quick Charge 3.0 devices to full in a respectable 1.5 hours.
Buy an Anker PowerCore II here
Bean Bag Bazaar Gaming Bean Bag (£39.99)
Not all furniture is created equal. Unless you’re blessed with a comfortably caressing corner sofa, you should probably consider something new for your gaming perch. This leather bean bag is shaped with gamers in mind: back, neck and arm rests are designed to protect your withered muscles and joints from strain, which should mean even longer stints at the telly without those dreaded cramps. Sadly, it does nothing for square eyes.
USB Controlled Robotic Arm Construction Kit (£29.99)
For years, cinema has warned us what would happen if we give computers the tools to interact with the outside world. From HAL to Skynet, they’ve all gone mad and tried to wipe us out – and now these mad fools have created a robot arm that you can build and connect to your PC. You maniacs! You blew it up! Ah, damn you! Merry Christmas.
Buy a Robotic Arm Construction Kit here
EasyAcc Rugged Outdoor Power Bank (£33.99)
There are two certainties in going off-grid: the need to find a valid toilet paper alternative, and friends with flat phone batteries. EasyAcc’s rugged power bank won’t help you with the former, but its 20,000mAh capacity and near-indestructible build should quickly make you Mr Popular among your tech-toting mountain pals.
Buy an EasyAcc Rugged Outdoor Power Bank here
Gerber Bear Grylls Fire Stick (£17.99)
Ask your local grizzly and, chances are, he’ll repeat the rumour that’s been spreading through the forest like wildfire: Bear Grylls can start fires with his teeth. Don’t fancy giving the patented Grylls Gnaw a try? This pocketable flint equivalent will give you sparks on command. There’s even a compartment for tinder, although with the number of documentaries you’ve watched, you’ll doubtless be able to rustle up some dead leaves in a jiffy.
Buy a Gerber Bear Grylls Fire Stick here
Hiplok Z-Lok (£14.99)
You’ve ridden 50 miles, your gels are out and your bottle is rattling empty in its cage. Your only choice is to dash into the corner shop for a Mars bar, but that would mean leaving your bike unattended. Mercifully, the tiny Z-lok is tough enough to deter opportunist thieves and at a mere 20g it’ll go unnoticed in even the lightest of jerseys. You can even daisy chain two together for a bigger loop.
Kenu Stance Compact Tripod (from £11.80)
Buying for the lucky new owner of an iPhone X? You need to make sure they’re getting the best from that beast of a camera, and for that they’ll want a tripod. Kenu’s is a superb little device that holds the phone by its Lightning port. It also works as a portrait desktop stand, and even has a bottle opener built in. Buying for an Android owner instead? There’s a USB version too.
Buy a Kenu Stance Compact Tripod here
Lomography Konstruktor DIY SLR (£29.99)
Equipped with a fully interchangeable lens system, snapping together the pieces of this paper snapper won’t just be fun, it’ll also improve your photography, as you learn where every element goes and what it does. Perfect for photographing your detail-perfect miniatures.
Buy a Konstruktor DIY SLR Camera here
Lexon Flip Clock (£25)
Scientists believe that we were, at some point in our evolutionary history, menaced by carnivorous tortoises. As a result, many people feel an instinctive urge to turn something over immediately after waking. The Flip Clock is made for such people: you turn the alarm off by flipping it over, but the display rights itself so you don’t think it’s one minute past midnight when it’s actually 10 o’clock. It even has helpful ‘on’ and ‘off’ surfaces.
Makey Makey (£42.45)
If you’re buying for someone who knows what an Arduino board is, this one gives inquisitive tinkerers the power to turn almost anything (nut roast, Play-Doh, relatives) into keys to liven up their computer controls. Attach the alligator clips to the objects of your choice, plug them into your PC via USB and tap away – ideal for turning a banana into a piano, playing Tetris with a twig and generally making the mundane magical.
Meem (from £17.99)
Don’t trust the cloud to keep the contents of your phone backed up securely? Pair a plug socket with a Meem cable and your all-important smartphone stuff will be backed up to its on-board memory (available in 16GB, 32GB, 64GB and 128GB capacities) every time you plug it in to charge.
Mogees Play (£49.99)
If everyone’s a musician nowadays, it’s probably just as well that every inanimate object is a potential musical instrument. The Mogees Play is an app-connected sensor that can be stuck to pretty much anything – toasters, floors, the foreheads of people who don’t mind being lightly clonked in the name of art – and will turn them all into rhythmic music-makers. We can’t vouch for its claimed educational value, but it does look great on a watermelon.
Monopoly Gamer (£17.50)
You know Monopoly, right? Race your nearest and dearest to tycoon status, before raising the rents and watching the cash roll in. In this version, though, there are no notes. You can’t even play as the boot. Instead, select your favourite Mario character, collect coins as you go and splash out on prime Ninty real estate. With Yoshi Hills in your portfolio, who needs a hotel on Mayfair?
PitPat (£39.99)
Look at yourself, poring over the data from your fitness tracker all day long while the poor dog – yes, remember, you’ve got one of those – sits around in front of the telly eating crisps. Put a PitPat dog activity monitor right at the top of your Christmas list and you’ll soon be hitting those running goals together.
Roku Express (£29)
Roku’s dinky little media streamer turns your bog-standard tellybox into a smart TV. You can pick from pay-as-you-go blockbusters with Now TV, subscription services such as Netflix, and free channels including BBC iPlayer. For film buffs, there are weird and wonderful film collections on obscure channels like Moonlight Movies, which offers up a selection of free b-movies from the golden age of Hollywood.
Slughaus Bullet 02 (£11.99)
Yes, your phone has a torch, but it’s barely bright enough to light up the inside of a Coke can, let alone guide you home after a mince pie binge down the local. Put this tiny, near-indestructible LED light on your keyring and you’ll have a ready beam forever in your pocket. Perfect for spotting wayward baubles.
Sphero Mini (£49.99)
What’s the difference between Sphero Mini and a snooker ball? One reacts to your facial expressions, the other causes them, as you mis-cue a shot on black and lose the entire game. Once your fit of chalky rage subsides, you can get back to mucking around with the smallest of Sphero’s spherical droids. Smartphone-controlled and fully programmable, this dinky ‘bot can also be steered with your face – so the snooker club really will see you rolling.
Victorinox SwissCard (£26)
"What on earth would I need a penknife for? I’m only going to Marbella for a long weekend!" Well, best of luck to you. In any case, this nifty set of tools from Victorinox – famously long-time suppliers to the Swiss Army – packs a barrage of useful bits and bobs into a package the size of a credit card, so you’ll never be short of the right pointy bit.
Buy a Victorinox SwissCard here
Perfect Drink Cocktail Scale (£45.73)
If you know someone who reckons they’re a bit of a mixologist, avoid having to drink their badly proportioned concoctions by presenting them with this app-controlled smart scale, which offers gadget-based guidance on how to make the perfect drinks.
Buy a Perfect Drink Cocktail Scale here
Tile Slim (£16.99)
Know someone absent-minded? Help them keep track of their wallet, keys and other possessions with this Bluetooth tracker. It’ll show where them where they left an object, or sound an alarm to reveal where it is. Set it up on Christmas Eve and they might even catch Santa.
Upso Stirling Seat Pack (£30)
Every winter cyclist needs a sturdy saddle pack for stashing spare tubes, tyre levers and emergency snackage. Upso’s range of under-seat sacks is made from recycled lorry tarpaulins, which means each one is waterproof, unique and comes with just a hint of world-saving smugness. Want to use it for mid-ride energy bars? It’s just as happy clinging horizontally on to your handlebars, too.
Buy an Upso Stirling Seat Pack here
Virtuali-Tee (£25)
Normally, when you say “I want to see what your internal organs look like” it’s taken as a dangerous threat and all of your scalpels are confiscated. But when they put some funny markings on a t-shirt and pair it with an AR smartphone app that shows lungs, heart and various gloopy bits as they sit behind the ribcage, it’s all fun and games. Unfair, huh?
Learning Resources Zoomy 2.0 (£43.20)
Microscopes can be a bit fiddly for young kids, but the Zoomy makes it all easy by going handheld. Hook it up to a laptop via USB, hold the ‘scope above your subject and the computer screen becomes your eyepiece, making it a lot easier to see what’s going on. With a 54x zoom it’ll dig up plenty of detail, too.
Buy a Zoomy 2.0 Handheld Microscope here
Lomography Smartphone Film Scanner (£41)
Practically everyone over the age of 40 has a load of old negatives lying in a drawer somewhere. Imagine what might be on them: you, when you were young and fit! Your partner, when they were young and fit! Your dog, when it wasn’t dead! The Lomo Smartphone Scanner transfers your old photos from film to shiny new smartphone. And, for that, we thank it.
Buy a Lomography Smartphone Film Scanner here
