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As a dad myself, I know it helps my family to spell out for them precisely what I want for Father’s Day, which is coming up on Sunday, June 15. But maybe your Dad isn’t so sure. That’s where we come in!
I consulted with the analysts and editors here at PCMag, many of whom are fathers themselves. Together, we narrowed down an array of gift ideas to the absolutely best stuff available.
We know that a guide like this will help you find the right devices and services, no matter what kind of digital life your papa is living. Read on for our curated list of gift ideas.
The Nothing (a) over-ear headphones are visually stunning and sonically spectacular, with rich, bass-forward audio and active noise cancellation (ANC) perfect for shutting the world out. The style extends to the onboard controls, which incorporate a clickable scroll wheel to adjust volume and select listening modes, along with a paddle for browsing through tracks. Battery life is stellar, peaking at 135 hours with ANC disabled.
If your old man is feeling the years, help him motivate to get back into fighting shape with this robust smart scale. The Wyze Scale Ultra uses Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis to measure fat and muscle in the arms, legs, and torso. We gave it an Editors’ Choice award, noting that it was simple to use, let you set up to eight individual user profiles, and synced with third-party services like Apple Health and Fitbit.
If your father is looking forward to a summer of smoked meats, grab him the ultimate accessory. The TempSpike lets him deploy multiple probes, set doneness presets for various cuts and types of meat and fish, and connect to both a wireless display and his phone so he can monitor his dinner wherever he goes. We gave this one an Editors’ Choice for its performance in testing. The precision this unit offers is unmatched, and it’ll bring Dad’s grilling to a whole new level.
We consider the Viture Beast sunglasses, which provide full-color projected displays via any USB source, the absolute best prism display smart glasses on the market. You can adjust the transparency of the exterior lenses to blend your views, and head-tracking settings let you control how the display behaves, whether it locks in one position or follows your gaze. These are super-futuristic and absolutely cool.
If your dad’s like mine, he’s still in love with the music that he listened to as a kid (lots of Lynyrd Skynyrd, in his case). Give him a high-tech way to access all his streaming favorites with the Sonos Play, a spectacular smart speaker that delivers the rich audio that the brand is famous for, coupled with a waterproof build so he can take it anywhere. We gave this unit an Editors’ Choice award for its epic battery life and useful companion app.
Let Dad set up his own cinema-quality screening room wherever he goes with the exceptional Xgimi MoGo 4 laser projector. This ultra-light device pumps out bright, colorful 1080p images with no flicker and virtually no rainbow artifacts. Unlike many other portable projectors at this size, it has a built-in battery that lasts up to 2.5 hours on a single charge. Onboard audio is decent, featuring 6-watt Harman/Kardon speakers with Dolby Audio support.
For gaming on the go, there aren’t many options that beat the Lenovo Legion Pro 5. This powerhouse portable delivers everything a gamer dad needs, whether he’s dominating randoms online in Marathon or just grinding ascensions in Slay the Spire. We raved about this model in our review, highlighting its gloriously bright, colorful OLED screen and its powerhouse Blackwell-series GPU. Since it’s a Lenovo, the build quality is peerless and the keyboard feels great.
Rowing is one of the best full-body exercises your dad can do. Luckily, Peloton has branched out from its cycling roots to introduce this exceptional rowing machine that delivers AI-powered form feedback to help Dad get the most from every stroke. Sonos-tuned speakers pump out all the motivational music and instructor commentary you can handle, and new voice control lets you adjust the volume and switch camera views when your hands are busy.
This durable and versatile action camera earned an Editors’ Choice award from us thanks to its superlative lens, which captures 72MP stills and up to 8K video through dual front and rear lenses for a full-circle of photography. It’s tough enough to go just about anywhere, with an IP68 rating and the ability to submerge up to 49 feet in water without any ill effects. The 2,400mAh battery gives him up to 185 minutes of use on a single charge.
Dads have a lot to do all the time—a smartwatch can keep them on schedule. We’re big fans of the Apple Watch SE, an affordable wearable that combines a crisp always-on display with epic battery life and 5G wireless connectivity. In our review, we noted that it packs a wide range of biometric tracking features, including sleep apnea sensing. Tons of productivity and entertainment apps make it an all-purpose wristwatch that Dad can fiddle with forever.
If your father oves his Xbox, the new Asus ROG Ally portable will give him all the Halo he can handle, no matter where he goes. This machine combines a sizable screen with controller-style grips on each side. It feels comfortable in the hands, runs Windows 11 with an Xbox-style interface that links to Steam, the Epic Games Store, and tons of other libraries, and plays all your Xbox games (including Game Pass titles). It’s the absolute best Windows-based gaming handheld you can get.
Mowing the lawn is one of those fatherly duties that gets worse with age, so why not recruit a little robot friend to give your dad more time to grill? The Eufy E18 automated lawnmower is a high-tech trimmer that creates a detailed map of yards up to 0.3 acres, with wire-free navigation and obstacle avoidance. It runs quietly and efficiently for between 90 to 110 minutes on a single charge, automatically returning to the base station to refuel when needed.
My Experience
I’ve been writing about computers, the internet, and technology professionally since 1992, more than half of that time with PCMag. I arrived at the end of the print era of PC Magazine as a senior writer. I served for a time as managing editor of business coverage before settling back into the features team for the last decade and a half. I write features on all tech topics, plus I handle several special projects, including the Readers’ Choice and Business Choice surveys and yearly coverage of the Best ISPs and Best Gaming ISPs, Best Products of the Year, and Best Brands (plus the Best Brands for Tech Support, Longevity, and Reliability).
I started in tech publishing right out of college, writing and editing stories about hardware and development tools. I migrated to software and hardware coverage for families, and I spent several years exclusively writing about the then-burgeoning technology called Wi-Fi. I was on the founding staff of several magazines, including Windows Sources, FamilyPC, and Access Internet Magazine. All of which are now defunct, and it’s not my fault. I have freelanced for publications as diverse as Sony Style, Playboy.com, and Flux. I got my degree at Ithaca College in, of all things, television/radio. But I minored in writing so I’d have a future.
In my long-lost free time, I wrote some novels, a couple of which are not just on my hard drive: BETA TEST (“an unusually lighthearted apocalyptic tale,” according to Publishers’ Weekly) and a YA book called KALI: THE GHOSTING OF SEPULCHER BAY. Go get them on Kindle.
I work from my home in Ithaca, NY, and did it long before pandemics made it cool.
The Technology I Use
My first computer was a Laser 128, an Apple II-compatible clone with an integrated keyboard, matched with an eye-straining monochrome green monitor. I used it to type papers in college for other people for money…until I discovered the Mac SE in the college computer room. That changed my life. My first cellphone was a Samsung Uproar—the silver one with the built-in MP3 player from the Napster days (the pre-iPod era).
I use an iPhone 15 Pro hourly and an iPad Air infrequently (but I’m always in the market for a cheap Android tablet). I have a PlayStation 5 just to play Spider-Man, and several Windows machines, including a work-issued Lenovo ThinkPad. I talk to Alexa and Siri all day long. I do the majority of my computing on a 15-inch LG Gram laptop attached to a Thunderbolt hub to run a multi-monitor setup—I overdid it on the power needed to simply work from home.
I’m most at home in Microsoft Word after decades of writing there. More and more, I turn to services like Google Docs, using tools like Grammarly. I use Google’s Chrome browser due to an addiction to several extensions I think I can’t live without, but probably could. I use Excel extensively on data-intensive stories, but for chart creation, we’ve switched over entirely to using Infogram for interactive features that are hard to find elsewhere. I do a lot of graphics work for my stories, but limit myself to the free and amazing Paint.NET software to edit images.
I’m a firm evangelist for using the cloud for backup and syncing of files; I’m primarily using Dropbox, which has never failed me, but I also have redundant setups on Microsoft OneDrive, plus extra picture backups on Amazon Photos and iCloud. Why take chances? For entertainment, mine is a streaming-only household—my kid has never seen network TV and barely been exposed to commercials, thanks to Roku and Amazon Music. The house is peppered with smart speakers from Amazon for instant gratification and control of smart home devices like multiple Wyze cameras and Nest Protect smoke detectors. I’ve got accounts on all the major social networks, to my horror. I have a robot vacuum for each floor of the house. I want a 3D printer, but not sure what I’d use it for.
I’ve been writing about computers, the internet, and technology professionally since 1992, more than half of that time with PCMag. I arrived at the end of the print era of PC Magazine as a senior writer. I served for a time as managing editor of business coverage before settling back into the features team for the last decade and a half. I write features on all tech topics, plus I handle several special projects, including the Readers’ Choice and Business Choice surveys and yearly coverage of the Best ISPs and Best Gaming ISPs, Best Products of the Year, and Best Brands (plus the Best Brands for Tech Support, Longevity, and Reliability).
I started in tech publishing right out of college, writing and editing stories about hardware and development tools. I migrated to software and hardware coverage for families, and I spent several years exclusively writing about the then-burgeoning technology called Wi-Fi. I was on the founding staff of several magazines, including Windows Sources, FamilyPC, and Access Internet Magazine. All of which are now defunct, and it’s not my fault. I have freelanced for publications as diverse as Sony Style, Playboy.com, and Flux. I got my degree at Ithaca College in, of all things, television/radio. But I minored in writing so I’d have a future.
In my long-lost free time, I wrote some novels, a couple of which are not just on my hard drive: BETA TEST (“an unusually lighthearted apocalyptic tale,” according to Publishers’ Weekly) and a YA book called KALI: THE GHOSTING OF SEPULCHER BAY. Go get them on Kindle.
I work from my home in Ithaca, NY, and did it long before pandemics made it cool.
My first computer was a Laser 128, an Apple II-compatible clone with an integrated keyboard, matched with an eye-straining monochrome green monitor. I used it to type papers in college for other people for money…until I discovered the Mac SE in the college computer room. That changed my life. My first cellphone was a Samsung Uproar—the silver one with the built-in MP3 player from the Napster days (the pre-iPod era).
I use an iPhone 15 Pro hourly and an iPad Air infrequently (but I’m always in the market for a cheap Android tablet). I have a PlayStation 5 just to play Spider-Man, and several Windows machines, including a work-issued Lenovo ThinkPad. I talk to Alexa and Siri all day long. I do the majority of my computing on a 15-inch LG Gram laptop attached to a Thunderbolt hub to run a multi-monitor setup—I overdid it on the power needed to simply work from home.
I’m most at home in Microsoft Word after decades of writing there. More and more, I turn to services like Google Docs, using tools like Grammarly. I use Google’s Chrome browser due to an addiction to several extensions I think I can’t live without, but probably could. I use Excel extensively on data-intensive stories, but for chart creation, we’ve switched over entirely to using Infogram for interactive features that are hard to find elsewhere. I do a lot of graphics work for my stories, but limit myself to the free and amazing Paint.NET software to edit images.
I’m a firm evangelist for using the cloud for backup and syncing of files; I’m primarily using Dropbox, which has never failed me, but I also have redundant setups on Microsoft OneDrive, plus extra picture backups on Amazon Photos and iCloud. Why take chances? For entertainment, mine is a streaming-only household—my kid has never seen network TV and barely been exposed to commercials, thanks to Roku and Amazon Music. The house is peppered with smart speakers from Amazon for instant gratification and control of smart home devices like multiple Wyze cameras and Nest Protect smoke detectors. I’ve got accounts on all the major social networks, to my horror. I have a robot vacuum for each floor of the house. I want a 3D printer, but not sure what I’d use it for.
Read full bio
K. Thor Jensen is a writer and cartoonist living in the Pacific Northwest. He has contributed to dozens of prestigious outlets, including PCMag, Tested, Clickhole, and Newsweek. His second graphic novel, <em>Cloud Stories</em>, was released in 2017.
K. Thor Jensen is a writer and cartoonist living in the Pacific Northwest. He has contributed to dozens of prestigious outlets, including PCMag, Tested, Clickhole, and Newsweek. His second graphic novel, <em>Cloud Stories</em>, was released in 2017.
Read full bio
PCMag.com is a leading authority on technology, delivering lab-based, independent reviews of the latest products and services. Our expert industry analysis and practical solutions help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology.
For over 40 years, PCMag has been a trusted authority on technology, delivering independent, labs-based reviews of the latest products and services. With expert analysis and practical solutions across consumer electronics, software, security, and more, PCMag helps consumers make informed buying decisions and get the most from their tech. From in-depth reviews to the latest news and how-to guides, PCMag is the go-to source for staying ahead in the digital world.