Great last-minute gifts that will still get there by Christmas

Great last-minute gifts that will still get there by Christmas

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If you’ve put your holiday shopping until now, you’re probably feeling a lot of pressure. We understand. Holiday shipping deadlines are coming up fast, but you’re still safe if you place your order today. We’ve rounded up the best last-minute holiday gifts across all categories, so you’ll find something for everyone on your list. Please note that, in many cases, you’ll need to shop at Amazon with an active Prime subscription to guarantee holiday delivery. If you’re not a subscriber, don’t worry, you can sign up for a free 30-day trial. Not all of the gifts are on Amazon, however, so it may not be a necessity. We just want to offer you options, and we’ll keeping this introduction brief so you can save precious seconds and finalize that cart before arrival dates slip past the 24th!

  • Best earbuds: Apple AirPods Pro 2
  • Best headphones: Bose Noise-Cancelling Headphones 700
  • Best bone-conduction headphones: Shokz OpenRun
  • Best smartwatch: Garmin Forerunner 745
  • Best pet DNA test: Embark Breed + Health Dog DNA Test
  • Best for the couch potato: The Comfy Wearable Blanket
  • Best for the backyard: Solo Stove Bonfire 2.0
  • Best for the office: Felt Letter Board
  • Best for students: Rocketbook smart reusable notebook
  • Best compact garden: SereneLife smart starter kit 
  • Best smart oven: Brava smart oven
  • Best coffee-pod brewer: Nespresso VertuoPlus Deluxe Espresso Machine by Breville in Titan
  • Best self-care gift: Aroma Humidifier for Essential Oil
  • Best for avid readers: Kindle Unlimited
  • Best for the perpetual student: MasterClass
  • Best for the cord-cutter: Sling
  • Best smart speaker: Amazon Echo (4th Gen)
  • Best portable speaker: Tribit StormBox Blast
  • Best TV: Hisense U8H
  • Best wireless charger: Twelve South PowerPic
  • Best home security: Blink Smart Cameras

Best earbuds: Apple AirPods Pro 2

Apple AirPods Pro 2

Apple

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Let’s not beat around the bush here: Apple’s AirPods Pro 2 are arguably the hottest holiday gift this season. Apple’s latest earbuds sound better, last longer, and cancel out more noise than the pair they replace while keeping the same iconic look, feel, and shape. Active noise cancellation is the biggest feature for office workers, as it’ll allow them to concentrate on work instead of being distracted by the sound of typing keys, swiveling chairs, or idle conversation. One of the most underrated features of the AirPods Pro 2 is the microphones, which are surprisingly good at picking up a speaker’s voice without much room noise. At their price, you won’t find a more well-rounded, fully featured pair of earbuds than the AirPods Pro 2.

Best headphones: Bose Noise-Cancelling Headphones 700

noise-cancelling-headphones

Amazon

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Quality headphones are a staple item you can use every day—and this Bluetooth-connected, noise-canceling option from Bose has the durable design and powerful tech that will make them last for years. Whether you’re working from home or in the gym, this wireless pick offers 11 levels of ANC, so you can tailor your auditory surroundings to your personal preferences. And with 20 hours of battery life, a crisp microphone system for calling, a super-comfortable padded design, and Alexa and Google Assistants, these headphones are ideal for everyone from audiophiles to commuters who want to tune out while on the train.

Best smartwatch: Garmin Forerunner 745

Garmin Forerunner cold weather runner gift guide

Garmin

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Here’s the thing: You don’t need a watch to run. Sometimes it can be incredibly relaxing to simply go for a jog without any regard for pace or distance. But let’s face it, there is a fair percentage of runners (myself included) that are stat-obsessed. And keeping track of your mileage can be a helpful tool if you’re beginning a training program or starting a buildup for a specific race, like a 5K or a marathon. The Garmin Forerunner 745 has everything a runner needs to geek out on, including GPS tracking, heart rate monitoring (with a resting heart rate feature), pulse oximeter, as well as apps to track your menstrual cycle and how much water you drink in a day. With this watch, almost nothing is left unchecked, making it one of the best gifts for runners.

Best pet DNA test: Embark Breed + Health Dog DNA Test

Embark Dog DNA Test Kit

Amazon

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Shelters aren’t great at identifying breeds for the pooches in their kennels—it’s difficult to do on sight alone. But if you’ve ever wondered what your pup is made of, you can buy this DNA kit and figure it out for sure. Purebred dogs are massive inbred, which makes it easy to identify which traits come from which lineages, plus you probably don’t have to worry about privacy issues with this one like you would for a human DNA test.

Best for the couch potato: The Comfy Wearable Blanket

The Comfy Original

The Comfy

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The Comfy looks ridiculous, but any semblance of pretension melts away whenever one puts it on. This is basically a blanket masquerading as a one-size-fits-all oversized hoodie. The Comfy is probably best recommended for at-home use, but it’s well worth a look if you’re shopping for someone who just wants to binge-watch shows all winter without freezing. The Comfy’s sherpa inner lining and microfiber outer lining are soft to the touch, which makes it easy to wear for hours at a time, while the centered pouch gives one a place to put their hands. The Comfy is objectively ridiculous, but it’s also ridiculously warm.

Best for the backyard: Solo Stove Bonfire 2.0

Solo Stove Bonfire 2.0

Solo Stove

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We’ve all sat around a fire pit that didn’t provide enough heat unless you were close enough to be pelted with eye-watering smoke, but Solo Stove’s Bonfire fixes all that. The fire pit provides ample warmth while keeping smoke to a minimum thanks to a unique design that catches ash in a pan rather than letting it smolder at the bottom of the pit. We’ve seen the Bonfire 2.0 in action, and the results were impressive—there was still some smoke, but not nearly as much as we’d experienced on a traditional fire pit. Solo Stove’s big innovation with this iteration of the fire pit was building it with a removable ash pan, which can be lifted (once cooled) to dispose of ash in one fell swoop. It’s the type of convenience feature that’ll make whoever you gift it to much more inclined to bust it out more frequently.

Best for the office: Felt Letter Board

This rustic letter board is the best white elephant gift idea.

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Ever look at a church or fast-food signboard and feel so jealous? Why do they get to share their witticisms about deadly sins or daily combos and you have no such platform!? Well, now you’re in luck. From famous quotes to limericks that might require a visit from HR, you can broadcast it all the old-fashioned way, right from the comfort of your cubicle. With a 10×10 inch space, this felt board has room for opinions cliché to controversial. The 374 pre-cut letters feature a rustic style and bold font, and you even get nine bonus cursive words for extra flair, plus extra clips to hold photos or notes. With this set, your coworker can make every day a red letter—er, white letter—day.

Best compact garden: SereneLife smart starter kit 

SereneLife smart starter kit 

SereneLife

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But not all of us have five vertical feet of space, not hundreds of dollars, to dedicate to gardening indoors. If that’s the case, try a smaller countertop version to grow a few small plants at a time.

Best smart oven: Brava smart oven

Brava smart oven

Brava

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Brava’s smart oven seeks to answer two questions home cooks face at least once a day: What should I cook, and how long will it take? The 10-in-1 countertop appliance provides you with answers to both by presenting you with an ever-growing list of recipes that cater to any diet or dietary restrictions. In our tests, we cooked everything from s’mores to fried eggs, and the results were both fast and tasty. You can control the oven using an app, or by navigating through its controls via a touch screen on top; either way, you’ll be guided through recipes from conception to execution. Part of this appliance’s appeal is its size: The Brava Oven will heat up a lot faster than a full-sized one, which allowed us to cook s’mores in just three minutes. By cutting down on the cook time, we were encouraged to cook more often rather than opting for takeout. This is an ultra-luxe gift, but well worth it if you know someone who loves to cook but struggles to come up with new meals for their rotation.

Best self-care gift: Aroma Humidifier for Essential Oil

aromatherapy-diffuser

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Aromatherapy diffusers are the sensory gift that keeps on giving. If you give someone the portal, they can swap out a sequence of their own essential oils until the cows come home. This big ol’ wooden pick can run for 6 hours straight. If it looks like a genie’s bottle that’s because it grants three wishes at once: In addition to diffusing oils, it also works as a humidifier and party light with seven “soothing” colors.

Best for avid readers: Kindle Unlimited

Kindle Unlimited

Amazon

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An Amazon Kindle Unlimited subscription will put millions of books from every genre into the hands of whoever’s lucky enough to receive it. The service allows subscribers to download and read as many books as they’d like from a massive library on any device that has a Kindle app. If they move from one device to another, Amazon’s servers automatically keep track of their place. That’s better than a bookmark. This gift subscription—for 6 ($48), 12 ($80), or 24 months ($144)—may encourage lapsed book readers to finally catch up on contemporary titles, while voracious ones will find their literary cravings satisfied. It also avoids long waits to borrow books that come with otherwise excellent library apps.

Best for the perpetual student: MasterClass

A MasterClass Subscription

MasterClass

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MasterClass subscribers get unlimited access to thorough video courses taught by masters in their chosen field(s). Courses are taught video prerecorded video instructions and include cooking taught by Gordon Ramsey, drumming taught by Ringo Starr, and writing taught by Roxane Gay. MasterClass continues to offer new classes on a regular basis, so this subscription will only get more valuable over time.

Best for the cord-cutter: Sling

Sling TV

Sling

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Cord-cutters sometimes regret their decision to cancel cable service. Internet video streaming is incredible, but sometimes you want to watch the latest episode of your favorite show or sports match as it airs. A subscription to Sling TV allows you to stream live TV from several premium channels including CNN, ESPN, TLC, TNT, and TBS. Sling can be accessed on any device, so they’ll be able to stream any of their shows from anywhere.

Best smart speaker: Amazon Echo (4th Gen)

Echo (4th Gen)

Amazon

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If you know someone who’s been thinking about making their home smarter, but doesn’t know where to start, get them the Amazon Echo (4th Gen). Amazon’s latest smart speaker looks modern, has a surprisingly good dual-driver audio system, and will immediately become the hub of their smart home. Alexa, Amazon’s smart assistant, allows you to use the Echo hands-free, issuing voice commands to play music, get news updates, hear about the weather, play games, and even order products. Controlling smart-home accessories through the Echo is much easier using apps, which can be cumbersome and require your full attention. Saying, “Alexa, turn on the hallway light,” is a lot more intuitive. If you’re feeling extra generous, gift somebody two Echos so they can have this functionality in multiple parts of their home (plus an intercom system).

Best portable speaker: Tribit StormBox Blast

Tribit StormBox Blast

Tribit

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Tribit’s StormBox Blast is the best portable party speaker you can still get before the holidays. It can last up to 30 hours on a single charge, supports the latest version of Bluetooth, and has earned an IPX7 rating, which means it can be fully submerged underwater without being damaged. LED light strips on the sides of this speaker can light up and pulse to the beat of music, or turned off to conserve power. And did we mention it’s $35 off with a coupon (don’t forget to click)?

Best TV: Hisense U8H

Hisense U8H Series TV

Hisense

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We can’t think of a better holiday gift than a new TV, and Hisense’s U8H is the gold standard in its price range. The set is available in sizes ranging from 55 to 75 inches, but the 65-inch model will be the sweet spot for most people. The U8H has four HDMI ports, two of which support 4K gaming at 120Hz with high dynamic range enabled. This is a big deal if the gamer in your life has a PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, as they’ll be able to play cutting-edge titles at their highest levels of fidelity. The U8H’s 336 local dimming zones allow the TV to offer incredible contrast, while support for Dolby Vision ensures colorful scenes look clear and natural rather than being blown out. If you’ve been saving up to set that special someone up with a really big gift, this should be your first (and arguably only) choice.

Best wireless charger: Twelve South PowerPic

Twelve South PowerPic

Twelve South

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Twelve South’s PowerPic is the most inventive wireless charger we’ve seen yet, and its unique design makes it an especially cool gift. The 10W wireless charging stand is built into a picture frame, allowing you to slip any 5×7-inch photo behind your phone’s resting spot. The picture will be revealed when the phone is not charging, so the PowerPic serves a dual purpose. If you know the person you’re gifting this to well enough, you can stealthily open the package, put in a meaningful picture, reseal it, then watch their face light up when it’s revealed.

Best bone-conduction headphones: Shokz OpenRun

AfterShokz Aeropex are the best bone-conduction headphones.

AfterShokz

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Without a doubt, Shokz has cornered the bone-conduction headphone market. The company produces thoughtfully engineered, top-quality products, creating an audio experience to complement the activities you enjoy. The OpenRun (formerly the AfterShokz Aeropex) is, overall, an excellent pair of bone-conduction headphones. Available in four colors and two band sizes, the OpenRun fits gently, yet securely, around the back of the head, looping around the ears and resting against the temples. The headphones employ patented eight-generation bone-conduction technology, are equipped with Bluetooth 5.0 SBC, and feature PremiumPitch 2.0+ signal processing, which prevents bleed, minimizes distortion, and produces a more dynamic bass with minimal vibrations. The battery lasts for eight hours and each pair comes with two magnetic USB charging cables, which can provide a full charge in just two hours. A dual noise-canceling mic will let you make clear calls and included earplugs can help you tune things out when the time is right. An IP67 rating means this pair can withstand dirt, dust, sweat, and rain, while a built-in moisture detector will let you know when it’s getting wet. However, while the OpenRun is water-resistant, it’s not designed to be fully submerged in the pool.

Best coffee-pod brewer: Nespresso VertuoPlus Deluxe Espresso Machine by Breville in Titan

Nespresso VertuoPlus product image

Nespresso

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If you want a complete home coffee setup in a single click, we highly recommend a Nespresso. The name is almost synonymous with single-serve espresso pod systems (much like Keurig was office break rooms). The VertuoPlus, however, lets you bring that elevated experience to 5 oz. and 8 oz. coffees alongside single and double shots. Bold or mild, hot or iced, there are 30+ permanent Nespresso blends, augmented by seasonal offerings (all sold separately). Opening one of these will perk the recipient up even before the first delicious cup.

Best home security: Blink Cameras

blink home security Alexa-enabled system product image

blink

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There are blink-and-you’ll-miss-them deals, then there are still-available Blink deals on home security devices that won’t miss any area you need to keep an eye on. Available in models including wireless weather-resistant outdoor, compact indoor plug-in, video doorbell, and more, Blink cameras bring peace of mind at affordable prices. HD live views and two-way audio can be accessed in the Blink Home Monitor app, and the system works with Alexa, among many other features.

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