The Verge’s 2024 holiday gift guide for tinkerers

If you’ve ever wondered whether the USB-C cables or devices you’re using are delivering the power they promise, you’ll want a voltmeter. MakerHawk offers comprehensive insight into metrics like voltage, current, and power capacity, allowing you to suss out whether that impossibly cheap cable and adapter combo you found on eBay can actually charge your devices as fast as advertised.
Price: $13.97

Ayaneo’s Retro Power Bank isn’t the biggest or fastest, but it might be the coolest. It’s reminiscent of an old-school Nintendo console or game cartridge, but it’s actually housing a 12,000mAh battery with two 45W USB-C ports. It also has a monochrome OLED display to show charging and battery statuses with mechanical switches to toggle various views and settings.
Price: $39.99

DeWalt’s charging kit might speak to your inner child with an assembled design resembling a treaded Tonka truck. It has a 100W USB-C Power Delivery port, allowing you to not only quickly charge the brand’s 20V Max and 60V Flexvolt batteries for its various tools but also use those batteries to charge other devices. It also has a USB-A port and ships with a 65W wall charger.
Price: $99

The Stream Deck Plus builds on Elgato’s popular stream and PC controller by adding a touchscreen strip and four customizable dials to go along with its eight LCD buttons. The dials let you finely adjust audio sources, manipulate camera settings, or zoom in and out of photos in supported apps, alongside the endless programmable functions and automations you can set up in the Stream Deck app.
Price: $199.99

The hype around 3D printing is easily suppressed by the steep learning curve, not to mention both upfront and ongoing expenses. But if you know someone dying to hop in, the full-size Bambu Lab P1P is a safe bet. With practically no assembly required, breezy filament swapping, and quick printing speeds, your recipient can achieve their first print before they have time to completely give up on the hobby.
Price: $449

Tinkerers will appreciate iFixit’s new 100W soldering iron, which can receive power from any USB-C connection and heats up within seconds. The sleek tool lets you make liquid metal connections just about anywhere and comes with a bevy of safety features that make it suitable for beginners and experienced DIYers alike, including a heat-resistant magnetic storage cap.
Price: $79.95

For someone interested in DJI drones but not the bill that comes with them, enter the palm-sized DJI Neo. It has a 4K camera with versatile shooting modes and AI subject tracking, allowing it to follow and keep your subject in the frame. It’s great for beginning content creators who are just getting started with aerial shots or anyone interested in safely exploring (aero)space.
Price: $199

Foldable keyboards are extremely convenient for portable office setups, but many tend to be membrane-style. Royal Kludge’s wireless F68 is a mechanical, low-profile alternative that folds in half to free up space in your bag. It features an aluminum build with either linear red or tactile brown switches as well as a built-in stand to hold your tablet or phone.
Price: $54.99

Besides the pocket-friendly design, part of the charm of the Sharge Pouch power bank is knowing that its engineers collaborated with the passionate OnePlus community to build it. The 10,000mAh battery is also more convenient than might be guessed at first glance. It features passthrough charging through its 40W USB-C Power Delivery ports, with a detachable AC plug that also works as a 55W charger on its own. The petite package effectively offers three simultaneous charging sources.
Price: $99

A leveler is an invaluable tool for any builder, but it can be frustrating to use a basic one, especially if you’re on your own. Skil’s 65-foot self-leveling laser is pricey but can project perfectly leveled lines from a long distance and across multiple walls at any angle, vertically or horizontally, and without manual reorientation. With a bundled tripod, you don’t even have to worry about how you’re going to hold it still in place.
Price: $109.99+

The cool thing about 8BitDo’s retro number pad is that, while it’s designed to pair with the brand’s similarly designed mechanical keyboards, you can use it independently as a desktop calculator. It’s no Texas Instruments, but it’ll do the trick for basic calculations. It otherwise works as a wireless keyboard extension on Windows and Android devices, with a dedicated button to switch between the two operating modes.
Price: $44.99

Your average dollar-store screwdriver has nothing on Hoto’s tried-and-true electric model. The handy, cylindrical tool comes with 25 steel bits and offers three torque settings, providing you with everything you need to tackle Ikea furniture, holiday decor, and other medium-sized projects around the house. It packs a few modern conveniences, too, such as a built-in LED light and USB-C charging.
Price: $59.99+

A dirty keyboard and monitor can be unsightly, but if you let too much gunk build up under the keys, it can actually make your machine almost unusable. This 10-in-1 keyboard cleaning kit comes with everything you need to buff the scuffs and get rid of the dirt, including liquid cleaning solution, key removal tools, brushes, microfiber wipes and cloths, and cleaning pens.
Price: $16.98

Your entire construction project can suffer if even one of your measurements is a little bit off. There’s no need for guesswork with a digital caliper, which communicates the true depth of any object up to six inches. It supports fractional readings, too, so you’ll know the exact thickness in millimeters or inches, down to the decimal.
Price: $26.99

Winter is coming, and the last thing you need is to jump into your vehicle and grab a cold gear shift. You can help the little buddy out with a cute hoodie that keeps it nice and warm. It’ll look cool without feeling cool. The hoodies are super cheap and come in a variety of colors, so you can load up on several to match your day’s style.
Price: $7.99

I don’t know about you, but I’m getting tired of repurposing my spice containers as nail and screw holders while I’m building something. Magnexpert’s magnetic wristband is a convenient solution. It wraps 15 magnets in a nylon cover with visible separators, allowing you to keep the tiny steel bits organized and within reach with little risk of losing them in shaggy carpeting and couch cushions.
Price: $9.90

Between high energy bills and increasingly hungry electronics, we wouldn’t blame you for wanting to know exactly how much energy your devices are using. There’s little else more convenient for that purpose than the Kill-A-Watt, which lets you monitor the usage of whatever’s plugged into it over the course of days, weeks, months, or even a year. It’s an ugly wall wart, but the resulting data can paint a nice picture.
Price: $27.99+

Whether you’re a visual artist or just want to ensure you’re getting the most accurate picture possible, Datacolor’s Spyder X Pro monitor calibrator is a must. It’s one of the most common pro-recommended tools for quickly and easily dialing in your display’s colors. The included software walks you through the process and can help you calibrate multiple monitors to ensure they match up, even if they’re completely different.
Price: $149+

The Ayn Odin2 Mini is an Android 13-based gaming handheld that cribs the PlayStation Vita’s design, complete with Hall effect analog sticks, triggers, bumpers, face buttons, and a D-pad. You can load emulators and other fun stuff onto the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 device and enjoy them on a five-inch 1080p Mini LED display. It’s no Steam Deck, but it’s a cool little callback to simpler times.
Price: $339

The Cricut Explore 3 is great for hobbyist arts and crafters or professional creatives running an Etsy shop. The versatile tool can effortlessly slice custom cuts from tons of material, from paper and leather to wood. You can even swap in several tools, such as one that draws or etches your designs onto the material. There’s a $9.99 fee for uploading more than 20 designs per month.
Price: $299+

GAM Precision offers timeless appeal with a sturdy hammer that contains a set of flathead and Phillips-head screwdrivers. It adds an elegant gold-on-silver appearance and features an ingenious storage mechanism. The screwdrivers act as the handle, and each smaller one screws into the bigger ones like a matryoshka doll. It’s a great way to consolidate a common set of tools for those who only need the basics.
Price: $41.98

Find yourself needing to rewire a whole network of devices? Instead of buying multiple bundles of ethernet cables in arbitrary lengths, you could just buy one big spool and cut it into perfect segments for your needs. Get yourself some RJ45 caps, then just grab a crimper like the Klein model here. It lets you cut, strip, and crimp your wiring with a single handy tool.
Price: $49.97+

Here’s a cliche for you: the Victorinox Cyber Tool L is the Swiss Army knife of Swiss Army knives. Seriously, you may not even use half of the things on the authentic 39-in-1 multitool. It has all sorts of cutters, snippers, strippers, pliers, clamps, screwers, filers, and openers designed for both traditional and new age tinkering. You can pick up a fashionable $21 leather belt pouch to go with it.
Price: $140

Here’s another multimeter that lets you test the true charging speed of USB cables and adapters. This one is a bit bigger, as it bears plugs for USB-C, Micro USB, and USB-A, providing one-stop voltage and current readings for all your devices. Its roomy (if busy) LCD display lets you view other advanced information about the plugged-in cables as well.
Price: $64.99

We can’t understate how convenient it is to have a variable DC power supply on hand for building and testing electronics. Tekpower’s well-rated model ouputs up to 300W at voltages up to 30 and amperages up to five. It offers a constant supply of currents and voltages with built-in mechanisms to help you make safe and precise on-the-fly adjustments down to the tenth.
Price: $79.98

The Flipper Zero is an open-source wonder of a remote hacking tool. It features RFID, NFC, sub-GHz, Bluetooth, USB-C, and a row of GPIO ports, allowing it to interface with a boatload of hardware. It can control your garage door, store U2F keys for two-factor authentication, or carry out a host of actions that may be a bit more interesting than the multitool’s cheery, dolphin-adorned exterior lets on.
Price: $169

Manually picking out globs of molten solder is time-intensive and nerve-racking, especially around crowded circuitry where precision is of the essence. You can save time and frustration with Hakko’s desoldering tool. It not only heats the soldering for loosening but also vacuums it into a filter chamber. It features configurable temperature zones and a quick-release nozzle system that makes it easy to swap attachments.
Price: $299.99+

You can save a trip up the ladder each season with Govee’s Matter-ready permanent outdoor lights. The 100-foot string of bulbs is protected against the elements thanks to IP67 water resistance. You can customize scenes with the Govee app and initiate them via Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant voice commands. The lights can also react dynamically to music.
Price: $299.99

If you’re still blowing money on cans of compressed air, just stop. A portable, rechargeable alternative like the Cagiwiru Air Duster 4.0 is an invaluable replacement for most needs. It’s great for maintaining upkeep on all kinds of electronics, from keyboards and dusty case fans to various PC components you’ve left unattended.
Price: $25.99