The Verge’s 2026 gift guide for dads

This year, why not get Dad a gift or two he won’t expect?

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Gone are the days when you could just buy your father a random tie or some leather-clad alcohol vessel or a shaving kit. Dads want — nay, deserve — something memorable. Luckily for you, it’s not that hard to find something special that he’ll approve of, and we’re here to guide you.

We’ve curated this year’s gift list with the modern father in mind, whether he’s a gamer, creator, chef, or simply a gadget lover. There’s a lot in here we think he’ll like, from noise-canceling headphones like the Sonos Ace Ultra and an autonomous drone to a brilliant QD-OLED monitor and a nifty light that’s perfect for illuminating his next campsite. Whatever your dad is into, we’ve got you covered.

How much do you want to spend?

Antigravity’s A1 is the ultimate gadget for the dad who dreams of owning the sky. The compact drone comes with specialized goggles that will make him feel like he’s in the cockpit, and it records always-on, 360-degree 8K video. It’s an exhilarating flight experience and an excellent creator’s tool in one slick package.

Cleaning gadgets like Dyson’s PencilVac FluffyCones are never cheap, but they’re often worth the cost and a pleasure to use. The lightweight, broom-replacing stick vacuum doesn’t do carpets, but its rolling bars pack incredible cleaning power for touching up hard floors, including stairs.

For those who love travel but hate the constraints of a hotel TV, Belkin’s ConnectAir is a slick solution. Plug the transmitter into any device with a USB-C video-out port and the receiver into the TV’s HDMI port, and voilà, you’re easily (and wirelessly) connected.

Sonos raised its headphones game on all fronts with the Ace Ultra, which deliver better noise canceling, improved sound, and the feature we’ve all been waiting for: Wi-Fi support. With the ability to bounce audio across your Sonos ecosystem, including from a TVlete

Werewolf’s affordable dongle kit provides an almost magical way to power nearly any DC device from a USB-C charger or portable battery. Program it from a mobile app, connect it to your old gear, and everything from a PC monitor to an original Game Boy can accept USB-C charging.

Who would have thought a simple hook could make roaming the city with a backpack so much more convenient? After testing Peak Design’s well-designed bags, we’re convinced the clever addition is a game-changer for anyone who doesn’t want to leave their bag on the filthy ground.

WiiM’s first soundbar builds on its seamless Sonos-esque connectivity with a sleek design, detailed sound, and up-firing speakers for Dolby Atmos spatial audio. It also pairs with other speakers for surround sound through a no-fuss setup process, including ones you already own that are linked to one of WiiM’s amplifiers.

Your dad needs an awesome monitor, but there are 10 billion options. Alienware’s 34-inch Penta Tandem QD-OLED delivers top-end picture quality, with vibrant colors and perfect blacks, plus a swift 280Hz refresh rate. Best of all, it’s not nearly as expensive as you might think.

If your dad is still reading books on his phone (or aging e-reader), it’s time for an upgrade. The latest in Amazon’s series of waterproof, auto-dimming e-readers loads books faster than the prior model and offers a slick aluminum upgrade. No matter which you choose, it’s a better way to bring the library along.

Give your father a little nostalgia and a lot of convenience in one package with this stylish USB-C dock and SSD combo gadget. The cassette-shaped Sharge Disk Pro 2 works as a hub with support for HDMI at 4K, SD and microSD card slots, USB-A and USB-C ports, along with up to 8TB of storage stored within.

Smart TVs are often pretty dumb. If your dad is always complaining about his TV, or if you want to get ahead of it, grab the latest Apple TV 4K. Although it’s not cheap, it stands out with built-in mics for Siri AI, lots of power, HomePod surround sound support, and a simple, ad-free interface.

The Switch 2 leverages the same ideas as its predecessor, only with a larger, 7.9-inch display, a faster chip, and a bevy of new social features. However, its most important trait is that it’s the newest Nintendo console, which means access to a host of weird, beautiful, family-friendly games that only Nintendo could dream up, now on a better screen.

Oura didn’t reinvent the wheel with the Ring 5, but it did reshape it into a slimmer, thinner, more wearable design that could make all the difference. Inside are the same extensive health and fitness tracking features for charting everything from sleep to heart health, backed by long battery life.

The CS-Pro will make your dad feel like a private eye in the early ’80s. The retro-inspired digital camera serves up 16-megapixel stills and offers four filters accessible from its tactile dial, plus USB-C charging, a high-quality Xenon flash, and a 4GB SD card for plenty of vintage photo fun.

BougeRV’s fancy, compact lamp will spark joy for the glamper in your life, as well as everyone else. Its powerful, foldable spread of LEDs provides a blast of light anywhere plug-ins can’t reach, from the beach to the shed where that scary spider holds court, with up to 60 hours of light on low power.

The Rival Pro offers plenty of thoughtful extras, including swappable batteries and an ultra-wideband base station for a seamless, low-latency connection. The gaming mouse’s lightweight design and 8,000Hz polling rate also deliver both accurate and ergonomic performance for up to 16 hours per charge.

It’s time to help Dad ditch his collection of plastic reusable cups, which have clearly seen better days. NotNeutral’s hand-pressed, timeless tumbler offers ’70s vibes with a modern twist, making it the perfect vessel for whatever Dad twists into his favorite drink.

Vampire Tools Multipurpose Screw Extractor Pliers (6.25-inch)

Give the gift that fixes past home improvement transgressions. These handy Japanese-made pliers from Vampire Tools have one fundamental purpose — to remove stripped screws — and they’re damn good at it. The best part? Watching Dad’s face light up seconds before he sprints to the garage for them.

For the manga or live-action Netflix show lover on your list, this fashionable Pirates jersey, inspired by Monkey D. Luffy from the seminal pirate adventure series One Piece, will be as surprising as it is delightful.

If you’re after a cheap, useful stocking stuffer, Trond’s reliable three-prong extension cord is a practical pick that’s available in leftward or rightward configurations to fit nearly any outlet. Dad will probably say, “Oh, I’ve always wanted one of these,” and this time he’ll mean it.

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Zero Company, a strategy game set in the twilight of the Clone Wars, is a fun way to get lost in the Star Wars universe. The single-player, turn-based title lets players command a diverse team of characters across a gorgeous expanse of worlds, offering hours of solitary entertainment.

If your father already owns an Apple Watch, the Nomad Stratos is a foolproof upgrade idea. The refined watch band features titanium links with a rubbery interior for durable comfort, and it comes in an array of subtle color options that make it as suitable for the office as it is for the slopes.

We fell for Apple’s handy iPhone strap due to its effortless accessibility and comfy design, which uses flexible magnets to keep excess segments in check. From biking to hiking to concerts, it’s a great way to sling your iPhone 18 Pro, assuming you have a compatible phone case.

The new Fitbit Air provides the same great fitness tracking we’ve come to expect in a comfortable design that virtually disappears on your wrist. Google’s AI Coach can be overly assertive, but the tracker’s great battery life and metrics for everything from sleep to blood oxygen make it an excellent gift for anyone who needs a healthy hand.

Most of us have thousands of photos in the cloud, but if a photo never makes it into the real world, did it really happen? Existentialism aside, the Cricut StickerPix offers a new way to play with photos, providing you with everything you need to turn any picture into a pro-quality print or sticker.

This battery-powered fan is a big upgrade over your average plug-in job. As a 3D circulator, it can tilt to push air in all directions. It can be controlled from an app and even detaches from its stand to sit on a desk or tabletop. Quiet, powerful, and versatile, it’s equipped for nearly any adventure on or off the grid.

Have you broken something fragile that seems impossible to mend? Maybe all you need is a Kintsugi Repair Kit, which provides the Japanese method and a special lacquer to repair and restore broken ceramics to good health. The resulting golden scar is merely to remind us that rebuilding is possible.

If your favorite cinephile is looking to get off the streaming carousel, the Kaleidescape Strato E is the key. The premium player lets library builders locally store and play their favorite films and TV shows in lossless 4K resolution with Dolby Atmos for sterling entertainment that’s all theirs.

Once The Great British Baking Show becomes an obsession, only a serious stand mixer will do for replicating recipes at home. This mixer’s timeless design adds new features in what KitchenAid calls its biggest upgrade since 1955, with a new half-speed setting and a control lever that lets you set speeds between its standard settings.

The Pocket Scion is unlike any musical instrument you’ve witnessed before, one that uses the “biofeedback” from plants to trigger built-in synths. The device offers MIDI-out to send digital signals to outboard synths, and it includes an app for both macOS and Windows, finally giving you a way to make your favorite fern a rockstar.

When it comes to jotting down notes, there’s nothing like a pen and paper. At least, that’s what we thought before we tried the Remarkable Paper Pure. Offering a strikingly realistic writing experience that saves everything in the digital realm, this tablet is a brilliant way to bridge the gap and save paper.

Electronics are becoming more sustainable, and Fairphone is leading the way. The Fairphone 6 Plus may seem like a regular Android phone on paper, but the ability to repair and replace its internals, from the screen to the battery, makes it anything but average.

$650 at Amazon$650 at FairphoneFollow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.

Source: www.theverge.com