Christmas is rapidly approaching, along with all of its associated stereotypes. There is sure to be an over-indulgence in food and drink, lots of out-of-tune carol singing, and shops that are so busy you can hardly move.
It also means you’re going to spend the next month scratching your head about what gifts to buy for your friends and family. Your dad is an especially tough person to buy for – you can’t get him yet another pair of socks, while that jigsaw that you got him last year has been collecting dust on top of the wardrobe ever since.
Here are our top ten tech gifts for your dad and that’ll make this holiday season one to remember.
JBL Flip
I’m yet to meet a dad who isn’t a music lover. Whether he listens to The Rolling Stones, Abba, or (shudder) Miley Cyrus, there is nothing that most dads like more than bopping around the house, garden, or garage while their favorite tunes play in the background.
Although you’ve probably got a good music setup in your house, the places where dads like to do most of their tinkering are often lacking; if your dad is anything like mine he’ll still be using a battery-powered FM radio from the 1980s.
Luckily, you can drag him into the 21st century by buying him a JBL Flip.
The lightweight, portable Bluetooth speaker packs a surprising amount of punch for its size. It has a built-in bass port for that extra thump, will stream directly from any Bluetooth enabled device, and its microphone means you can even use it to answer phone calls.
It’s available on Amazon for $74.95.
Anker PowerCore+
From a buyer’s perspective, the best presents are both cheap and useful. At $9.99, the Anker PowerCore+ is an awesome stocking filler that fulfils both those requirements.
Let’s face it, running out of battery is one of the most annoying “first world problems” that we encounter on a day-to-day basis. It seems that laptop and smartphone manufacturers are incapable of making a battery that will last 24 hours. Frankly, if you’re a heavy user, you’re unlikely to get more than half a working days’ worth of juice before you’re reaching for a plug socket.
The PowerCore+ can supply one full charge to all the latest smartphone models, including the iPhone 6 and Galaxy S6, while the device itself will recharge in 3-4 hours.
If your dad spends a lot of time on the road with work, he’ll thank you forever more.
Fitbit Charge HR Wireless Activity Wristband
Hands up, whose dad is proud of his beer belly?!
Sadly, although “dad bods” are reportedly en vogue, and your dad has likely spent countless hours and paychecks cultivating his paunch, it’s not really very healthy. As people approach old age, carrying a few extra pounds around is bad for their hearts, bad for their blood pressure, and bad for their bones.
Do your dad a favour and get him to make “getting fit” one of his New Years resolutions, then give him a gentle nudge in the right direction by giving him Fitbit Charge HR wristband. It’s one of the leading fitness trackers on the market today.
You can pick one up for $134.99 on Amazon.
Spot Connect Satellite Communicator
If your attempts to revolutionize his lifestyle were successful, your dad might be well on his way to becoming the next Bear Grylls.
In that case, you can’t go far wrong with the $229.99 Spot Connect. It will pair with his smartphone or tablet and enable him to connect to a global network of satellites. It means he’ll never be offline again – he’ll be able to send texts, his GPS coordinates, and SOS signals whether he’s sat in an igloo in the Arctic Circle or (more likely) he’s having a pint in a pub where the phone signal is a bit patchy.
PowerUp 3.0 Smartphone Controlled Paper Airplane
The first of two “flying” ideas on our list, the PowerUp 3.0 Paper Airplane will make your dad the talk of the town.
The Kickstarter-funded project claims to be the world’s first smartphone-operated paper plane, having been designed by an entrepreneur who had previously spent 15 years working as a cargo pilot.
All the operator needs to do is tilt their smartphone in the desired direction of travel, and the plane will go there. 10 minutes of charge provide 15 minutes of flying time, and it has a range of 55 meters.
Tile Key Finder
If you live in one of those households where there’s always people coming and going, your siblings come back with mountains of homework and new clothes every time they leave the house, and junk piles up faster than your mother can find a home for it, your dad has probably waylaid his keys a fair few times.
Tile is a small Bluetooth tracker that he can connect to his key-ring. It’ll sync with his smartphone and will show its position on a map at all times. It can also be made to emit a sound on demand.
At just $25 on Amazon, it’s another great stocking filler.
RIF6 CUBE
If your dad is the type of guy who likes showing off his videos and pictures to family and friends, this is the perfect gift.
The $300 portable projector can turn any setting into an entertainment environment. It comes complete with its own speaker, an internal battery, and an SD card reader, and can connect to all major smartphones/tablets.
Measuring just 2 inches x 2 inches, the RIF6 Cube can be easily taken on holidays, to work, or to the friends houses, while it’s LED lamp will last 20,000 – the equivalent of watching a feature-length movie every day for the next 20 years!
BLADE Nano QX RTF Quadcopter
Drones are all the rage at the moment, and their price has plummeted in the last 18 months. They are now a very affordable gift if you want to get something a bit “off-piste” for your tech-loving dad.
The BLADE Nano QX RTF Quadcopter only weighs half an ounce, but it’s highly durable and is designed to take a decent amount of rough-and-tumble.
Due to its small size, the quadcopter can fly both indoors and outdoors. Just make sure you understand your country’s laws regarding unmanned aircraft before taking it to the local park!
Magellan RoadMate
One of every dad’s main duties in life is providing a taxi service for the family.
Of course, we all know that men are too stubborn to ask for directions, and given that paper maps are “a bit 1990s”, why not treat him to a GPS system? It means he always be able to find that random house that your younger sister needs picking from at 3am every Friday night.
The Magellan RoadMate comes with free lifetime map updates, traffic alerts, speed camera warnings, and alerts for level crossing and school zones.
It’ll cost you $160.30 if you buy through Amazon.
Logitech MX Master Wireless Mouse
It’s chargeable, it works with three computers at the same time (with a simple button press letting you cycle between them), it has programmable functions that save time and clicks, it will track on almost any surface (even glass), and it charges for 40 days at a time. In a nutshell, the Logitech MX Master is the perfect mouse.
If your dad is the type of guy who has multiple devices, or regularly brings home a work laptop to accompany his personal laptop and his home PC, you’re onto a winner with this gift.
What Are You Going to Buy?
Do any of these gifts appeal to you? Perhaps you’ve got an awesome present in mind that didn’t make our list?
Share your ideas with your fellow readers in the comments below – they’ll probably thank you for it!
Image Credits:surprised middle aged man by PathDoc via Shutterstock