Gifts for nerds: useful gadgets & devices for Christmas

Less than 4 weeks until Christmas. If you are looking for a useful gift for your nerdy partner, friend or relative, you've come to the right place. Here at xiaomist we want to give you ideas for gifts that the recipients will hopefully have fun with for a long time after the first Christmas joy.

Shortly before the festival, you can get into "gift trouble" - then you tend to put more entertaining or even "gag gifts" under the tree. So that you can make the person happy that lasts longer, we have collected some gift suggestions that such nerds like us would like.

Nerd gifts under 35 euros

Monkey Island, Harry Potter & Co as a bath towel

A towel is known to be about the most useful thing the interstellar hitchhiker can own! Regardless of whether you use it to warm yourself on the cold moons of Jaglan Beta, use it as a mini raft or use it as a melee weapon ...

And if the legendary Douglas Adams reference is also printed with a nerdy motif, then next May 25th can come!

Smart home extension: light bulbs, sockets and switches

If the recipient already has a smart system installed in their home, you can't go wrong with an extension. There is always a use for lightbulbs, sockets, motion detectors or dimmer switches - the giver just needs to know for sure which system is being used. In addition to the ZigBee communication protocol (Philips Hue, LEDVANCE Smart +, IKEA Trådfri), which is widely used by private users, there are also Z-Wave, EnOcean and other WLAN solutions.

Make the TV / monitor / projector "smarter"

With the HDMI streaming sticks you can turn the old flat screen TV, monitor or projector into a smart TV. The most famous Android sticks include Google's Chromecast and Amazon's Fire TV sticks.

With these mini-computers, reminiscent of USB sticks, music, films and the entire Internet can be brought to the television easily, energy-saving and without fan noise. For example, you have access to streaming services such as Netflix, Disney +, Prime-Video, Spotify or Amazon Music Unlimited as well as the media libraries of the various German TV stations, YouTube and much more.

Nerd gifts up to 70 euros

Everything under control

A new controller is a good present for any game fan. Regardless of whether the old one looks very worn out, the person receiving the present does not yet have a second controller for local multiplayer or you just found the controller in their favorite color. Thanks to Bluetooth support, the modern controllers from Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony can also be used on a PC or smartphone without any problems.

Retro is all the rage: Super Nintendo, Mega Drive or is it C64?

2D is not going out of fashion, on the contrary: The indie scene has kept the pixel look and Nintendo, SEGA and others were able to celebrate great successes with mini versions of their old consoles. Every nerd should be happy when you bring him back the console or home computer of his childhood.

The prices of the mini consoles are usually between 60 and 80 euros. For the original hardware you have to go to the used market, which is why the prices can vary greatly depending on the condition, the accessories and games included. Apart from a few exotic items, you can usually get one of the old Sega or Nintendo consoles or a Commodore home computer with cables and 1-2 games for 70 euros. In the run-up to Christmas, however, prices can reach unimagined heights, which is why you should start looking early.

Nerd gifts for around 100 euros

Music everywhere: Bluetooth speakers

Bluetooth speakers bring music into every room and also outdoors. You can connect it either wirelessly or directly via a jack plug to your smartphone or tablet and enjoy the music anywhere.

You can get decent speakers for around 100 euros. However, you shouldn't go too far below this price limit, otherwise you will lose a lot of audio quality or battery performance. In the price range, for example, the JBL Flip 5, Ultimate Ears Boom 3, Bose Soundlink Color II and Dockin D Fine are suitable. If you are willing to spend a little more, you can also take a look at our Bluetooth speaker comparison.

Headset for smartphone, PC & game console

A headset can also be a slightly selfish gift. Especially when you talk to the person a lot on the phone or use voice chat, good sound quality is the be-all and end-all in order to understand one another. While the smartphone and the PC can handle any Bluetooth headset, you have to consider whether the person also wants to use the headset on a game console - PlayStation and Xbox only accept compatible devices.

The gift for a variable budget

LEGO & other clamping blocks

With licenses for popular films and series from the 80s and 90s as well as other new topics, LEGO and other manufacturers of terminal blocks have more and more conquered the adult target group in recent years. From small 10-euro sets to gigantic buildings that cost several 100 euros, you can get something for every budget here.

Regardless of whether you are looking for a main gift or need a little extra, the spectrum goes from Star Wars, Harry Potter, Ghostbusters and various superheroes to sports cars, rockets and architectural replicas and bouquets of flowers. And the nice thing about LEGO or compatible clamp blocks: Even if you don't want to display the finished work as a decoration, you can continue to use the blocks for other buildings or pass them on to the next generation.

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