Looking for a Christmas present for tech lovers that won’t cost the earth? Here’s some news that will leave you feeling merry – our tests prove that you don’t always need to dig deep into your wallet to secure a high quality gadget.
Our experts have been hard at work this year to help you add the best cheap tech products to your Christmas list, all of which did well in our tests. They’re not all Best Buys though, so check our full reviews to see exactly how each product scored in the Which? test lab, and whether they performed well on the features that will matter most to the recipient.
It’s also worth checking our tech reviews if you’re tempted by a cheap gadget that’s not in our round up; while we’ve seen plenty of cheap, stand-out headphones, wireless speakers and tablets, there have also been some releases that have made our naughty list.
Where possible, we’ve highlighted at least one truly budget option for £50 or less, plus a slightly higher-end model if you can afford a bit more, but every one of our picks will set you back less than £100.
Cheap tech Christmas gift highlights
- If you’re shopping for cheap, noise-cancelling headphones, take a look at the £75 Huawei Freebuds 3i
- Save money on a brand new Android tablet with the Amazon Fire HD 8
- The £16 Sony SRS-XB01 speaker could be a great stocking stuffer for music fans
- Take a look at the £28 Honor Band 5 if you want to shed some Christmas weight once the new year rolls around
- Amazon’s £30 Fire TV Stick gives you instant access to popular TV streaming apps
Cheap headphones for Christmas
Sub-£50 headphones: Mpow M30 Wireless Earbuds – £28
Available from: Amazon
We liked: Waterproof design, voice control support, easy to use
We didn’t like: L and R markings on each earpiece are tough to read
If you’re shopping for some budget-priced headphones this holiday season, these buds from Mpow might catch your eye. These truly wireless, in-ear headphones are sold exclusively on Amazon and are IPX8-rated, which means they’ll handle a dip underwater or a jog in the rain.
You can use Google Assistant or Apple’s Siri to interact with the Mpow headphones without having to tap anything. Alternatively, you can use the touch-sensitive controls to play/pause your music, skip tracks and answer incoming phone calls.
Read our full Mpow M30 Wireless Earbuds review, or buy them now at Amazon.
Happy to spend a bit more: Huawei Freebuds 3i – £75
Available from: Amazon
We liked: Effective noise-cancelling
We didn’t like: Battery life could be better
If you’ve got a bigger budget to play with, take a closer look at these truly wireless, in-ear headphones from Huawei. The Huawei Freedbuds 3i headphones are aimed at Android users and come with active noise-cancelling that blocks out distracting noises so you can enjoy your favourite tunes.
You get four sizes of eartips bundled in the box, so you should have no problem getting the Freebuds to fit comfortably.
Read our full Huawei Freebuds 3i review, or buy them now at Amazon.
Buying for someone who’s fussy about their headphones? Head over to our full headphone reviews to find great products to suit all tastes.
Cheap wireless speakers for Christmas
Sub-£50 wireless speaker: Sony SRS-XB01 – £15.99
Available from: Currys PC World
We liked: Small and compact, easy to use
We didn’t like: Physical buttons need a strong press to register commands
An affordable Bluetooth speaker from Sony. To connect it to a smartphone or tablet, you just need to enable Bluetooth and then look for the SRS-XB01 in your Settings menu.
With this being a mini speaker, you shouldn’t expect heavy levels of bass. We’d say the Sony SRS-XB01 is well-suited if you’re looking for a speaker to put in a small room, rather than a speaker to fire out festive favourites in a larger room.
Read our full Sony SRS-XB01 review, or buy it now at Currys PC World.
Want to check more options before making a decision? Head over to our full wireless and smart speaker reviews.
Cheap fitness trackers and smartwatches for Christmas
Sub-£50 fitness tracker: Honor Band 5 – £27.99
We liked: Lightweight, good screen, reasonably easy to use
We didn’t like: Poor heart-rate monitoring
Despite its price tag, this cheap wearable manages to pack in plenty of health-focused features. The Honor Band 5 comes with black, pink or blue bands and tracks steps, distance, calories and heart rate. There’s also a ‘find my phone’ app that can come to the rescue if you misplace your mobile while you’re building a snowman.
This fitness tracker is water-resistant to 50m. If you have an Android phone, You can tap at the gadget on your wrist to control music playing through your smartphone.
Read our full Honor Band 5 review, or buy it now at Amazon or Argos.
Sub-£50 fitness tracker: Samsung Galaxy Fit 2 – £39
Available from: Amazon, John Lewis
We liked: Slim and comfortable
We didn’t like: No built-in GPS
The Galaxy Fit 2 becomes Samsung’s cheapest fitness and activity tracker and could help you shed some pounds in the new year. Compared to the original Galaxy Fit, this model has a larger 1.1-inch colour display running at a higher resolution. It comes with a slim silicone band in black or red.
You can use the Galaxy Fit 2 to track steps, distance travelled, calories burnt and sleep. Luckily, there’s no mode that tells you how many Christmas puddings you scoffed in December. Various sports modes are included, with the full list including walking, running, cycling, swimming and indoor rowing.
However, note that this wearable doesn’t come with built-in GPS, so it might not be the best pick if you’re shopping for somebody that wants to track their outdoor runs.
Read our full Samsung Galaxy Fit 2 review, or buy it now at Amazon or John Lewis.
Happy to spend a bit more: Huawei Watch GT – £94.99
Available from: Amazon
We liked: Responsive touchscreen, good battery life, customisable watch faces
We didn’t like: Can’t download third-party apps
The Huawei Watch GT follows on from 2017’s Huawei Watch 2 Sport. With this successor, youget an updated heart-rate monitor and far more sophisticated fitness tracking. This Bluetooth-enabled smartwatch can track your smartphone, load up messages from social media, show you calendar events and check the weather in case you fancy a walk on Boxing Day.
It tracks the sort of stuff you’d expect from a brainy smartwatch – step count, calories, active minutes and common exercises such as running, jogging and rowing. You can also track elevation on a hike with the built-in altimeter.
Read our full Huawei Watch GT review, or buy it now at Amazon.
Happy to spend more than £100 to make your fitness-mad friend or family member happy? Take a look at the full range of smartwatches and fitness trackers we’ve tested.
Cheap TV streamers for Christmas
Sub-£50 TV streamer: Amazon Fire TV Stick Lite with Alexa Voice Remote– £29.99
Available from: Amazon
We liked: Plenty of apps, voice control is useful, can control volume and power of the TV
We didn’t like: Some features could be explained better
With the £30 Fire TV Stick Lite plugged into the back of your TV, you get instant access to popular TV streaming services including BBC iPlayer, YouTube, Netflix, ITV Hub and All 4.
We’ll admit that typing with the bundled remote can be a pain at times, but you can use your voice to open up your favourite apps in just a couple of seconds.
Read our full Amazon Fire TV Stick Lite with Alexa Voice Remote review, or buy it now at Amazon.
Happy to spend a bit more: Amazon Fire TV Stick with 4K and Alexa – £49.99
Available from: Amazon, Argos, Currys PC World
We liked: Detailed 4K picture, voice search works well, easy to set up
We didn’t like: Can’t cast pictures and videos from your phone to the TV
Even this pricier Fire TV Stick model will leave you with a penny spare from £50. It plugs into your telly as the Lite version does, but for around £20 more you get a TV streamer that’s capable of outputting video up to 4K.
Read our full Amazon Fire TV Stick with 4K and Alexa review, or buy it now at Amazon, Argos or Currys PC World.
Read our full round up of TV streamer reviews for more options.
Cheap Ebook readers for Christmas
Amazon Kindle 2019 (10th-gen) – £59.99
Available from: Amazon
We liked: Useful screen light feature, audiobook support
We didn’t like: No waterproofing, no local library lending
Sadly there’s no sub-£50 star in this category, as even this – the cheapest Ebook reader we’ve tested, and the cheapest in the Kindle range – tops that price mark. But it’s still well under £100, and an Amazon Kindle could be the ideal present for any bookworm.
This model features a 6-inch e-ink display and LED front lighting for enjoying page-turners in low light. You can also use the Amazon Kindle to listen to audiobooks.
The entry-level Kindle comes with 4GB of storage, which is plenty if you’re just looking to read normal books rather than image-heavy magazines. If you think you’ll need more storage space, you’ll have to break the £100 mark and think about the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (£119.99).
Read our full Amazon Kindle 2019 (10th-gen) review, or buy it now at Amazon.
Take a look at more options in the Kindle range, plus models from rival Kobo, in our full Ebook reader reviews.
Cheap tablets for Christmas
Amazon Fire HD 8 – £89.99
Available from: Amazon, Currys PC World, John Lewis
We liked: Compact and light, excellent battery life, handles the basics well
We didn’t like: Screen and speakers not the best
If you’re shopping for an Android tablet that won’t break the bank this Christmas, the 8-inch Amazon Fire HD 8 is up for grabs for less than £100.
There’s 32GB of storage on-board initially, although that’ll drop down to around 25GB after you’ve set up the tablet for the first time. If you need more storage space, you can bundle a microSD card with your order – this will let you increase the storage space up to 1TB (1,000GB).
Read our full Amazon Fire HD 8 review, or buy it now at Amazon, Currys PC World or John Lewis.
Find out how Amazon’s budget tablet measures up against pricier rivals such as Apple iPads and Samsung Galaxy Tabs in our full tablet reviews.
