Checklist · 10 picks · 4 categories
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Shopping for the friend who has a favorite starship and a homelab? Lean into it.
GamesRadar+'s best Star Wars LEGO set is a display-size Millennium Falcon, the Talking Sorting Hat actually sorts your guests, and Rivendell is its best set overall if you're going big. A VR headset is the wow gift: Engadget's best cheap pick is the Meta Quest 3S. For tinkerers, a Raspberry Pi 5 earned a Tom's Hardware Editor's Choice, and the Pi 500 tucks one inside a keyboard. Space nerds get a smart telescope that shoots galaxies straight to their phone. Each card shows the drawback the outlet called out, like a Pi that needs active cooling.
Who this is not for. Skip this if they mostly want controllers, headsets and keyboards; Gamer Gifts covers that setup.
Tell me what you can spend. I pick a tier for every item, essentials first, and show what is left. The first amount covers everything you need at the cheapest tier.
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Estimates based on typical prices, checked Oct 30, 2026. Prices change; see the store for today's price.
| Pick | Tier | Price | Best for | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LEGO Star Wars Millennium Falcon (75375) | budget | $50-100 | a two-hour build for the Star Wars fan | 1 outlet |
| LEGO Harry Potter Talking Sorting Hat (76429) | mid | $100-150 | sorting every guest who walks in | 1 outlet |
| LEGO Icons The Lord of the Rings: Rivendell (10316) | splurge | $500+ | the Tolkien fan with a big empty shelf | 1 outlet |
Best fandom legobudget pick · 921 pieces
Best for a two-hour build for the Star Wars fan
GamesRadar+'s best Star Wars LEGO set: it captures the iconic ship perfectly at a size that's great for display, and it's cheaper than other versions.
Heads up. Fiddly to build at times, and the instructions aren't always clear
1 outlet. GamesRadar+ best Star Wars Lego set.
$50-100
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mid pick · 561 pieces
Best for sorting every guest who walks in
GamesRadar+'s best Harry Potter LEGO set: push a hidden lever and it calls out a Hogwarts house with audio from the movie, with moving eyes and mouth and a House stand.
Heads up. A shame it's not full size, and replacing the batteries is fiddly
1 outlet. GamesRadar+ best Harry Potter Lego set.
$100-150
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splurge pick · 6,167 pieces
Best for the Tolkien fan with a big empty shelf
GamesRadar+'s best LEGO set overall: jaw-dropping once finished, packed with hidden details and 15 minifigures including the whole Fellowship.
Heads up. Takes up lots of space, and it's a time-consuming build
1 outlet. GamesRadar+ best Lego set overall.
$500+
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| Pick | Tier | Price | Best for | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meta Quest 3S | mid | $300-500 | a first VR headset | 1 outlet |
| Meta Quest 3 | splurge | $500+ | sharper VR and mixed reality | 1 outlet |
| PlayStation VR2 | splurge | $300-500 | PS5 owners who want high-end VR | 1 outlet |
Best vr headsetmid pick · 128GB or 256GB
Best for a first VR headset
Engadget's best cheap VR headset: fast, comfortable and backed by a large app library, and the best low-cost way in for newcomers.
Heads up. Older Fresnel lenses lead to artifacts, there's no headphone jack and the mixed reality cameras are average
1 outlet. Engadget best cheap VR headset.
$300-500
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splurge pick · 128GB
Best for sharper VR and mixed reality
Engadget's best VR headset overall: sharp screens and lenses, faster performance and mixed reality cameras that make it easier to see the real world.
Heads up. More expensive than before, only 128GB of storage to start and no battery life improvements
1 outlet. Engadget best VR headset overall.
$500+
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splurge pick · Needs a PS5
Best for PS5 owners who want high-end VR
Engadget's best console VR headset: excellent OLED displays, a comfortable fit and headset haptics that feel immersive, for PlayStation 5 owners.
Heads up. Limited new titles, and Engadget calls its long-term development suspect
1 outlet. Engadget best console VR headset.
$300-500
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Best raspberry pibudget pick · Credit-card size
Best for home servers, retro consoles and weekend projects
A Tom's Hardware Editor's Choice: significantly faster than the Pi before it for almost the same price, with dual camera and display support.
Heads up. Needs active cooling, and some older HATs need software updates
1 outlet. Tom's Hardware editor's Choice Raspberry Pi 5.
$50-100
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mid pick · Keyboard
Best for a whole computer tucked inside a keyboard
A Tom's Hardware Editor's Choice: the power of a Raspberry Pi 5 built into a keyboard, with excellent thermals and an easy overclock to 3 GHz.
Heads up. GPIO access is awkward, there's no NVMe storage and no camera or Touch Display connections
1 outlet. Tom's Hardware editor's Choice Raspberry Pi 500.
$100-150
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Best smart telescopemid pick · 30 mm
Best for city skies and trips
Live Science's best smart telescope for travel: a tiny, affordable scope that makes deep-sky, solar and lunar imaging possible almost anywhere.
Heads up. Only 2 MP images, a four-hour battery, and no tripod in the box
1 outlet. Live Science best smart telescope for travel.
$500+
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splurge pick · 30 mm
Best for galaxy and nebula photos straight to your phone
Live Science's best smart telescope overall: a portable scope that makes deep-sky astrophotography remarkably easy, with room to grow.
Heads up. Planets look very small, and EQ mode needs an extra wedge
1 outlet. Live Science best smart telescope overall.
$500+
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means three independent outlets recommend a pick, means one, and limited evidence means none has yet. I research these picks. I have not tested them myself. How I pick · Broken link, wrong price range or an outdated pick? Tell me
A LEGO build they can display. GamesRadar+ names the Millennium Falcon (75375) its best Star Wars set: 921 pieces, about two hours to build and cheaper than other versions.
For most people, the Meta Quest 3S, Engadget's best cheap VR headset. The Quest 3 is its best overall, with sharper screens and lenses, and the PlayStation VR2 only works with a PS5.
For someone who likes to tinker, yes. The Raspberry Pi 500 puts the power of a Pi 5 inside a keyboard, and Tom's Hardware gave both the Pi 5 and the Pi 500 its Editor's Choice.
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