From Hundreds of Gadgets Tested, Here Are a Few Worth Considering This Week
No hype, no filler — just practical, useful picks in a season overflowing with tech.
Holiday shoppers spent a record $44 billion online over Thanksgiving weekend, with Cyber Monday topping $14 billion, according to Adobe. That means people still splurge on tech, but they’re choosier than ever — researching deals, using AI to compare prices, and skipping gimmicks in favor of gadgets that genuinely help or jsut add more fun to our busy lives.
I test hundreds of products each year, and most don’t make it past a week on my desk. But a few stand out by solving real problems or adding real joy. In a season overflowing with “must-haves,” here are ten worth your attention — practical, thoughtful, and actually worth considering.
***We independently review everything we recommend. When you buy through our links, we may earn a commission.***
***Our production or marketing department recently worked with some of the companies included in this post.***
Samsung Tab S11 Ultra
Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra is basically a portable studio and command center in one. It’s a do-everything device, with the best of a laptop, sketchbook, movie screen, and personal assistant all in one. The spacious 14.6-inch AMOLED screen is gorgeous. It offers movies, photo editing, sketching, and even Zoom calls with more screen real estate. It comes with the S Pen included, and Samsung’s Note and Transcript Assist help turn scribbles, meeting notes, and voice recordings into clean, organized files. It’s super slim, light, fast, lasts all day, and it’s even water-resistant. It’s the rare gift that’s fun and genuinely useful.
Starting price: $1,000
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HP Sprocket Photobooth
The HP Sprocket Photobooth is the “why didn’t I think of that?” party gadget of the year. It’s a real photobooth — minus the giant booth. You set it on a table, pick a fun frame or filter, gather your people, and it counts down just like the real deal. Then, boom! Out pops a glossy 3”x 4” square photo on peel-and-stick photo paper that you can slap on a fridge, notebook, or Grandma. No ink cartridges. No app juggling. A built-in ring light handles the “please look less tired” magic and captures the best of the party vibes. It’s compact, portable, and crazy easy to use. Plus, it gives a party favor to keep the celebration going!
Price: $600
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Rog Xbox Ally
The ROG XBox Ally is a handheld gaming device that actually plays your real games, not the watered-down mobile versions. It’s a full Windows PC in a portable console, so you can play Minecraft, Forza, Hogwarts Legacy — from Xbox Game Pass, Steam, Epic, all in one place. It’s powerful enough for hardcore gamers, yet simple enough for casual players, and comes with three months of Game Pass Premium. Real games, in your hands, anywhere.
Price: $600
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SanDisk MicroSD Card for Rog Xbox Ally X
SANDISK microSD Card for ROG Xbox Ally X is a compact card that solves a huge problem. This handheld gaming PC is magical … right up until you run out of space … which is where Sandisk comes in — letting you play games directly off this certified card — no lag, no slowdowns. With up to 2TB of space, you can carry up to 50 full games at once … letting you take your full gaming library on-the-go. This is the perfect fix — no more constantly deleting and re-downloading — nightmare when you’re on a plane, in a car, or anywhere there’s no solid WIFI. Starting at just under $70.
Starting Price: $70
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Birdbuddy Pro Smart Feeder with Solar
Some gadgets entertain, this one delights — every single day. Birdbuddy is a smart bird feeder with a tiny camera and a bit of AI magic. When a bird lands, it snaps a photo, figures out what species it is, and sends it straight to your phone like a little nature postcard. It turns your backyard (or balcony) into a live wildlife show and yes, it’s as joyful as it sounds. Families love it. Grandparents adore it. Kids become mini David Attenboroughs. It’s tech that doesn’t pull you into a screen. It pulls you outside. And with nearly half off for the holidays, it’s easily one of the most heartwarming gifts you can give this year.
Starting Price: $150 (Up to 40% off on Birdbuddy.com)
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Bark Phone For Kids
The Bark Phone isn’t just another “kids’ phone.” It’s a purpose-built smartphone with full parental controls baked in. It’s been crowned PCMag’s Editors’ Choice for Best Kids’ Smartphone three years running for good reason: It automatically scans texts, photos, apps and social media for potential dangers, deletes explicit content before your child ever sees it, and lets you control everything from app access to screen time. It even pauses itself when it detects the phone is moving in a car. The Bark Phone doesn’t just give kids a device; it gives them a safer, more manageable way to grow into a healthier digital life.
Starting Price: $240 + monthly cellular service.
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Philips Avent Premium Connected Baby Monitor
Philips Avent Premium Connected Baby Monitor is the perfect gift for new and expecting parents: it uses a feature they call SenseIQ to track sleep and breathing without strapping gadgets to your baby. But there’s much more too: It also listens. With AI, it actually translates types of cries so it tells you if your baby is hungry, gassy, tired, or just plain annoyed. (HOW? It analyzes every cry against an extensive database of more than 100,000 hours of real babies’ cries.) You can check in from the parent unit, your phone, or without being on WiFi at all…which is also really awesome. Peace of mind, smarter and simpler. (Now over 40% off UNTIL 12/6!)
Sale Price: $199.99 (Sale on through 12/6)
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Microsoft Surface Laptop 13-Inch
Microsoft Surface Laptop (13-inch): Feels like a laptop built for real life — school, work, creativity, and the modern chaos that tends to hit all at once. It’s slim, light, fast, and the 13-inch touchscreen is one of the best in its class. The battery can stretch up to 23 hours, which is basically “an entire travel day plus the part where you forget your charger.” Tap the Copilot key or say “Hey Copilot” to get instant AI help with writing, research, planning, and everything in between. It’s powerful, stylish, practical, and an excellent deal at this price. It comes in three awesome colors: Ocean, Violet and Platinum. It’s powerful, stylish, practical, and an excellent deal at this price.
Starting Price: $899.99
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Rog Xbox Ally
The ROG XBox Ally is a handheld gaming device that lets you play your favorites games from Xbox Game Pass, Steam, Epic Games Store and more — all in one place. It’s a full Windows PC that’s powerful enough for that amazing gaming experience, but small enough to take with you … everywhere. It comes with three months of Xbox Game Pass Premium, so you can play fan-favorites like Minecraft, Forza Horizon 5, and Hogwarts Legacy. We ALL know someone who wants this.
Price: $589.99
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Honeywell Home X8s Smart Thermostat
Honeywell Home’s X8S is so much more than a smart thermostat. It’s like a control center for your home. One large, sleek touchscreen now handles temperature control, indoor air quality info, energy saving settings and even streams video from your smart doorbell so you can see and talk to anyone who comes to the door right from the thermostat display. It can help spot problems with your HVAC system before they turn into expensive repairs. Plus, customizable idle screens can show weather forecasts with design themes and color combinations to match any home décor!
Price: $219.99 US
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Greenlight
Instead of another toy that ends up under the couch, this gift teaches kids how money actually works. Greenlight is a debit card and safety app that helps kids and teens learn to earn, spend, save, invest (and track it all) with real money and parental guardrails. Families using Greenlight saved nearly $340 million and invested $70 million this year alone. It’s financial literacy, built into real life. Each account covers up to five kids. And it’s great for people taking care of aging parents too.
Plans start at $5.99/month
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Back Market: Refurbished Tech That’s Actually Smart
Looking for the hottest gifts without the “holy crap, this was $900” sting? Back Market sells premium refurbished tech that is professionally restored, inspected, and guaranteed with a one-year warranty and 30-day returns. You’ll save serious money and 92% of the carbon footprint of buying new. Apple Watch Ultra? $480 instead of $900. iPad Mini 7? $780 instead of $1,000. Nintendo Switch OLED? Same fun, 16% less money, 92% less guilt. Same joy. Smaller footprint.
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***All prices are correct at the time of publication, but might change.***
***Our production or marketing department might work with some of the companies included in this review. That work is separate from our editorial reviews.***