The 10 best holiday tech gifts under $100

• Price: $100
• Features: 32GB of storage | 189ppi screen | 13 hours of battery life 

Kindles make great gifts, but they can be pricey, and especially on the heels of every tech company’s latest fancy releases, tablets are in general right now. If you’re looking to gift something a little more accessible that lets you read, watch TV, and play games, the Amazon Fire HD 8 is our recommendation for $100. Plus, you can download the Kindle app to the Fire HD 8, albeit without the reading-specific perks of the Kindle. Check out our review for more.

• Price: $80
• Features: 32GB of storage | 189ppi screen | 13 hours of battery life 

Shopping for kids? Get them the gift that our resident kid tech expert Maria Diaz prefers over an iPad. Sturdy enough for the unpredictability of ages three to seven, it’s also our kid pick in our best tablets list. The Amazon Fire HD 8 also comes with a free year of Amazon Kids+, which gives them tons of ad-free books, games, movies, and educational content that they can enjoy for hours without pausing to recharge. Your friends with children will thank you.

Normally $180, this tablet is just $80 now on Amazon ahead of Black Friday. 

• Price: $100
• Features: Covers 1,095 square feet | 3-in-1 filter | Touch control

This Amazon best-seller is perfect for cold and flu season with a HEPA-grade filter, and can purify a space that’s about three times as big as the average NYC apartment. It even works well in Sleep Mode, as confirmed by a third-party lab, and helps filter away dust, allergens, pet hair, and more, including smog and wildfire smoke. This filter is also quiet while still being effective, making it a great choice for anyone who’s held off on getting an air filter due to the disruptive noisiness. 

• Price: $80
• Features: 12-hour battery life | Waterproof | 95 Hz-20 kHz frequency range

JBL is known for making great portable speakers, like the JBL Bar 1000, but ZDNET’s Jack Wallen went so far as to call the Clip 5 “one of the best portable speakers I’ve tested.” Even hand-sized and weighing in at under a pound, this speaker delivers booming, clear sound. It has an IP67 waterproof rating and uses Auracast to link up with other speakers for a surround-sound experience. 

Plus, with Cyber Week coming up, this speaker is even cheaper — get it for $50 on both JBL’s site and Amazon. 

• Price: $60
• Features: IP55 (dust-protected and water resistant) | 9-hour battery life (33+ in case) | ANC 

For well under $100, ZDNET’s favorite budget earbuds feature real, effective ANC, extensive battery life, and a comfortable fit that lasts even during exercise. Perfect for everyday, these make a great gift for someone who needs a solid pair of earbuds that won’t break your bank. Read the full review for more details here.

• Price: $100
• Features: 360-degree sound field | 12 ounces | 6 color options

Apple users usually want to stay within the Apple ecosystem, so if you know someone who is Apple-obsessed, they’ll love the Apple HomePod Mini. The HomePod mini is a small, spherical-shaped smart speaker featuring Apple’s voice assistant, Siri. It’s about three inches tall with a circular screen at the top that lights up when Siri is listening or when the device is playing music or engaged in a phone call. 

It’s part smart hub, and part music speaker thanks to its high-quality sound that provides a deep bass. Read our review for more here. Save $5 when you buy at Best Buy.

• Price: $100
• Features: 3-axis accelerometer | SpO2 sensor | Up to 10 days of battery life | AMOLED color touchscreen

For those who love to run or lift weights, the Fitbit Inspire 3 is the perfect gift so they can keep track of their fitness goals. It comes with a free six-month trial to Fitbit Premium, which gives you access to advanced health and wellness insights, 30-day and 90-day trends instead of just a 7-day period, an upcoming Daily Readiness Score, and more details on your sleep breakdown.

This tracker is an addition $5 off ahead of Cyber Week on Amazon. 

• Price: $100
• Features: Energy-efficient LED lights | 3.52 pounds | Over 50 plant capsules 

For the friend or family member with a green thumb, this smart indoor garden will have them growing fresh herbs even in the coldest winter months. You can choose from more than 50 plant refill capsules you can choose from, including peppers, chives, catnip, yellow tomatoes, and more. Click & Grow’s plants contain a patented nano-material called Smart Soil that automatically releases oxygen and water to your plants and is inspired by NASA technology.

The device’s lamp has a 16 hours on/eight hours off cycle to optimize your plants’ growth. In addition, its water float indicator will let you know when it’s time to refill the tank.

• Price: $60
• Features: Bluetooth | Voice support | Comes with free cloud storage 

The newest edition of Amazon’s streamer is a great gift for the person in your life who plans on staying cozy indoors this winter. They’ll still need a compatible TV to take advantage of the 4K HD capabilities, but this gets them halfway to the entertainment system they’ll love to have over the holidays. It’s even on sale at Amazon for $33 ahead of Black Friday. 

• Features:  6 ounce capacity | App control | Auto-sleep function 

Let’s face it: Nobody likes microwaved coffee. For the person in your life who drinks their morning beverage hot year-round, the Ember mug — a ZDNET staff favorite — is the answer to their ever-cooling cup of coffee. Especially during the colder months, this mug comes in handy by keeping your beverages warm (without nasty reheating) via a customizable app. 

Plus, at just six ounces, this mug is small enough to keep caffeine crashes to a minimum. Get the mug for $90 at Best Buy ahead of Black Friday.