Gifts for him

Buying guide

What should I buy a man who says he wants nothing?

Buy the better version of something he already uses. Men who say they want nothing usually mean they do not want clutter, and a tool that fixes a weekly annoyance is not clutter. That is why the top picks in our men’s lists are a trimmer, a travel mug and a meat thermometer rather than anything with a slogan on it.

Gifts for men is the general list, and the Philips Multigroom 3000 leads it at around £25. It does beard, hair, nose and ears from one handle, so it retires the cheap trimmer that pulls. Below it sit the Contigo Byron travel mug, which the listing says keeps coffee hot for up to seven hours, and the Anker Soundcore 2 speaker for the shed or garden.

If he really does own everything, switch to gifts for the man who has everything. The logic there is the opposite: things he would never buy himself. The Ember Mug 2 holds a drink at a set temperature and costs around £100, which is exactly why he will not have one.

What will he actually use? Questions to ask yourself first

Four questions sort out most gift problems before you open a single list.

• What does he do every Saturday? The barbecue, the golf course, the sofa with a controller. Buy for that.
• What has he complained about lately? A flat phone, a trimmer that pulls, cold hands on the dog walk. A fix for a moan gets used.
• What does he already own a tired version of? Slippers, wallet, travel mug. Replacements are safe because the habit is already there.
• Does he have strong views on it? Shavers, watches and anything sized, such as shoes or gloves, are personal. Check first or keep the receipt.

What are good gifts for dad?

Something for the barbecue, the car or the shed. Dads use a decent tool for years, and they rarely replace their own.

The gifts for dad list puts the TempPro TP03H thermometer first. It gives a reading in one to three seconds, by the listing, so the Sunday roast stops being guesswork. It is a probe you hold in, not one you leave in the oven.

Next comes the AstroAI B8 jump starter, around £30, which the listing says will start petrol engines up to 7.0 litres. It only helps if it is charged, so it suits a dad who will actually top it up. For the one with a drawer of dead batteries and a tired drill, the BLACK+DECKER 18V hammer drill sits around £40. No bits are mentioned on the listing, so add a set.

Slippers turn up in almost every list for older men, and the reason is dull but true: his current pair has gone flat. The RockDove memory foam pair is under £20. Pick his size on the listing before ordering.

What should I get my boyfriend or brother?

Start with where he spends his evenings: at a screen, in the car, at the gym or outside. Then buy the thing that makes that place better.

Both gifts for your boyfriend and gifts for your brother lead with the HyperX Cloud III headset for anyone who games, at £50 to £60. It is wired and works with PC, PS5 and Xbox, so it suits a desk or sofa setup rather than wandering round the house.

For a brother who drives a lot, the Glangeh auto-clamping car mount (under £25) holds and charges a phone, as long as the phone supports wireless charging. The Owala FreeSip bottle, around £30, is the gym pick. The INIU 10,000mAh power bank sits in both lists at under £20, because a phone on five per cent by teatime is close to universal.

For the boyfriend who is impossible to buy for, a LEGO set for adults works. The Super Mario Game Boy suits anyone who had the real thing; the Technic Ford GT40 suits a car fan. Both sit around £40 to £45, and both are display pieces once built.

What is a good 40th, 50th or 60th birthday gift for him?

At forty, the grown-up version of what he enjoys. At fifty, comfort and hobbies. At sixty, practical comfort and ways to keep up with the family. At every age, leave out the jokes about getting old.

40th birthday gifts for him leads with the ComboJoy cocktail smoker kit, around £40, for a man with a drinks cabinet. The torch arrives empty, so buy butane with it. The Garmin Forerunner 165 is the big treat for a runner.

50th birthday gifts for him puts the Samsung Galaxy Fit3 first, around £50. It logs walks and sleep, the listing quotes up to 13 days of battery, and it reads as a gadget rather than a health lecture.

60th birthday gifts for him leads with a Frameo WiFi photo frame, around £50, that grandchildren fill from their phones. Connect it to his WiFi before you wrap it, or it will sit blank. A solar bird feeder camera and a garden kneeler seat follow.

Who should I buy for, and where do I start?

Is grooming kit a good gift for a man?

Yes, if it matches the hair he actually has. A trimmer for a beard, a shaver for a clean face, clippers if he cuts his own hair. Our men’s grooming hub goes into foil against rotary and guard lengths.

The short version: the Philips Beard Trimmer 3000 leads beard trimmers at around £40, with lengths up to 10mm. The Philips Series 5000 rotary leads electric shavers at around £100. The plain Wahl corded or cordless clipper tops hair clippers for under £20. For a shaved head, see head shavers; for the rest, body groomers and nose hair trimmers.

One warning. A man who shaves every day often has strong views on foil or rotary. If you do not know which he uses, check the bathroom shelf first.

Which hobby gifts does he actually use?

The consumables and accessories, not the main kit. A golfer owns clubs but never has enough balls. A cyclist owns a bike, and his lights died last winter.

Gifts for golfers opens with a dozen Callaway Supersoft balls, around £25. A glove is cheaper, but check which hand and what size. Gifts for runners leads with a two-pack of rechargeable head torches, under £15, for 4pm sunsets. Gifts for cyclists starts with USB front and rear lights under £15, and warns against guessing clothing sizes.

For a gamer, gifts for gamers says do not buy a game; buy a charging dock or a headset stand. Gifts for campers leads with a portable stove. Football gifts, boxing gifts and gym gifts all favour things that wear out: wraps, cones, resistance bands. For coffee, coffee gifts names the AeroPress as the safest single pick, around £35 to £40.

When is a watch or bigger kit worth it?

When he already does the activity at least weekly. A GPS watch on a man who runs three times a week gets worn every day. On a man who plans to start running, it goes in a drawer.

For runners, the Forerunner 165 leads fitness watches. If he is a Garmin loyalist, Garmin watches explains why a Forerunner beats a Fenix unless he hikes for days. Golfers get front, middle and back distances from the Approach S12 at the top of golf watches, around £120.

Shoes and boots fit personally, so buy men’s running shoes or men’s hiking boots only with his size and a gift receipt. For recovery, massage guns argues for starting cheap. For the house, the JBL Flip 7 leads Bluetooth speakers at around £100, and projectors comes down to brightness first.

What can I get him at each budget?

Set the figure first, then browse. Under £20, the safe picks are the TempPro thermometer, RockDove slippers, the INIU power bank and the Gerber Dime; our gifts under £20 page gathers the rest. Between £20 and £50, the Multigroom 3000, the Anker Soundcore 2, the AstroAI jump starter and the cocktail smoker kit all sit comfortably, and gifts under £50 has more. From £50 to £100, the HyperX headset, the Galaxy Fit3, the Frameo photo frame and the Philips Series 5000 shaver are the strongest options, with the full range on gifts under £100.

How we pick

We rank each list from retailer listings, specs and published review research, not from hands-on testing, and we say where a listing is thin or a claim comes only from the maker. Prices change daily, so the cards above show today’s figure and the prose sticks to price bands. The full process is on our methodology page. Shopping for the women in your life as well? Try gifts for her.