Last year’s list of tech gifts under $100 is partly wrong this year, and not because the gadgets got worse. Memory chips got expensive, the makers passed it on, and several old standbys crossed the $100 line over the summer. Amazon’s Echo Dot Max launched at $99.99 and now lists at $119.99, after Amazon raised prices across its hardware line on August 21. Roku’s Streaming Stick Plus was announced at $39.99 and now lists at $59.99, after Roku raised the prices of its sticks and boxes in late July. The 16GB Raspberry Pi 5 that launched at $120 now lists at $305.
So this guide starts from the maker’s own list price as of September 11, 2026, and only keeps what still fits. Seven gifts made it: the Apple AirTag 2 ($29), Roku Streaming Stick Plus ($59.99), Anker Nano power bank ($49.99), JBL Go 4 ($49.95), Sony DualSense controller ($74), Fujifilm instax mini 13 ($93.95) and the Logitech MX Master 3S mouse ($99.99). Sales will take most of them lower; the list price is the ceiling.
The seven picks
| Budget | Pick | Maker’s list price (Sept 2026) | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under $30 | Apple AirTag 2 | $29 (four for $99) | Anyone with an iPhone who loses keys |
| Under $60 | Roku Streaming Stick Plus | $59.99 | Making any TV easy to use |
| Under $60 | Anker Nano Power Bank (10,000mAh, 30W) | $49.99 | Commuters and travelers |
| Under $60 | JBL Go 4 | $49.95 | Showers, picnics, dorm rooms |
| Under $100 | Sony DualSense controller | $74 | PS5 owners, and PC gamers too |
| Under $100 | Fujifilm instax mini 13 | $93.95 | Teens, parties, anyone who likes prints |
| Under $100 | Logitech MX Master 3S | $99.99 | People who work at a desk all day |
Prices are the makers’ own list prices, read from their US store pages on September 11, 2026, or from the maker’s own press release where the store does not print a list price (the instax). Every one of them can move again; the “what fell off the list” section below explains why 2026 is a year to check the price the week you buy.
Under $30: Apple AirTag 2
The safest gift on this list, as long as the person has an iPhone. Apple launched the new AirTag on January 26, 2026 “for the same price as its predecessor: $29 for a single AirTag and $99 for a four-pack.” The upgrade is range: Apple says Precision Finding “guides users to their lost items from up to 50 percent farther away than the previous generation,” and the speaker is “50 percent louder than the previous generation,” so you can hear it from about twice as far. It runs the same second-generation Ultra Wideband chip as the iPhone 17 lineup, and for the first time an Apple Watch Series 9 or later, or an Ultra 2 or later, can run Precision Finding to locate it.
One AirTag is a stocking stuffer. The four-pack at $99 is a proper present: keys, wallet, backpack, suitcase. If you want the long version of which tracker fits which bag, the Find My tracker guide covers wallet cards and luggage tags too.
If they use Android: buy a Tile Mate instead. Life360’s regular price is $24.99 for one and $79.99 for four (both were marked down on September 11, 2026), it has a 350-foot range and a battery Life360 rates for three years, and the app works on both iPhone and Android. AirTags need an iPhone or iPad to set up, so an Android household gets a paperweight.
Check price on Amazon · Tile Mate 4-pack on Amazon
Under $60: Roku Streaming Stick Plus
This is the gift for the relative whose smart TV takes 40 seconds to open Netflix. The Streaming Stick Plus plugs into an HDMI port, can draw its power from the TV’s own USB port so there is no wall plug to find, and does 4K with HDR10+ on TVs that support it. The remote has TV power, volume and mute buttons, so the old remote can go in a drawer.
Now the awkward part. Roku announced this stick at $39.99 in April 2025. Roku’s own store lists it at $59.99 as of September 11, 2026, after Roku raised the prices of its sticks and set-top boxes in late July; a Roku executive, speaking on background, told The Desk the company made the tough decision to raise prices to address shortages of memory and other components caused by the AI rush. It is still the cheapest 4K stick Roku sells: the Streaming Stick 4K is now $79.99 and the HD-only Streaming Stick is $39.99. If the TV is 1080p, the $39.99 HD stick is the same experience for less.
Under $60: Anker Nano Power Bank (10,000mAh, 30W)
The 2025 version of this guide recommended a 20,000mAh brick. This year’s pick is half the capacity and a much better gift, because the cable is built in. Nobody has to remember a cord. Anker lists the Nano at $49.99: 10,000mAh, a 30W USB-C cable that both charges the bank and charges the phone, plus a USB-C port and a USB-A port for a second device, at 7.58 ounces. 30W is enough to fast-charge a modern phone, and the little color screen shows the charging status, which is the feature people end up loving.
Why 10,000 and not 20,000? Weight. A 20,000mAh bank is a second phone in the bag. This one fits in a coat pocket and covers a long day away from an outlet.
Under $60: JBL Go 4
The Go 4 is the speaker you buy for someone who does not own a speaker. JBL lists it at $49.95. It is rated IP67, which means dustproof and waterproof enough for the shower or the pool edge, and JBL rates the battery at “up to 7 hours of playtime plus 2 hours with Playtime Boost,” a mode that retunes the sound to stretch the battery. The spec sheet lists Bluetooth 5.3 and a three-hour charge over USB-C.
Two of them pair for stereo, and JBL’s Auracast feature lets a group of its newer speakers play the same music at once, so a second Go 4 next year is a natural follow-up gift. It comes in a pile of colors, which matters more for a present than any spec.
Under $100: Sony DualSense controller
Every PlayStation 5 household wants a second controller and nobody wants to buy their own. PlayStation Direct lists the standard DualSense at $74. Sony’s pitch is “haptic feedback and adaptive triggers,” which in plain terms means the controller shakes in detail and the triggers push back, plus a built-in microphone for chat.
The reason it belongs on a gift list rather than a PS5 accessory list: it works on more than a PS5. Sony says it connects by USB-C cable or Bluetooth to Windows PCs, Macs, and Android and iOS phones and tablets. A PC gamer or a phone gamer gets a better controller than most of what sells for the same money. Sony sells it in more than a dozen colors, and the Midnight Black linked below is the one that never goes out of stock. Console shopping instead? The gaming consoles guide covers the PS5, Switch 2 and Xbox in one place.
Under $100: Fujifilm instax mini 13
The instant camera is the one gift on this list that gets opened and used at the party. Fujifilm announced the mini 13 on March 16, 2026, as the follow-up to the mini 12, at a “Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price of $93.95 USD,” expected in stores around late June, in Dreamy Purple, Frost Blue, Candy Pink, Lagoon Green and Clay White. The new trick is a self-timer: “dual timers, with options for 2 or 10 seconds,” so the person holding the camera can be in the photo. Close-up mode, a selfie mirror and automatic exposure are on board too.
The catch is the running cost. Film is the gift that keeps costing: Fujifilm’s new Pastel Galaxy pack lists at $17.99, and a camera with no film in the box is a sad Christmas morning. Budget a pack of film with the camera and you are under $100 on list price only if the camera is on sale, so treat this as the top of the range.
Under $100: Logitech MX Master 3S
For anyone who spends eight hours a day at a computer, this is the gift that gets used more than any other on the list. Logitech lists the MX Master 3S at $99.99, and on September 11, 2026 its own store had it marked down to $89.99. It has an 8,000 DPI sensor that tracks on glass, “Quiet Clicks” that Logitech says cut click noise by 90 percent compared with the older MX Master 3, and a metal electromagnetic scroll wheel that spins through 1,000 lines a second. The Logi Options+ app lets the buttons do different things in Photoshop, Excel and Chrome. It pairs with up to three computers and switches between them with a button, and Logitech rates the battery at up to 70 days per charge, per Tom’s Hardware’s review.
Full disclosure, because a gift guide should say it: there is a newer mouse. Logitech introduced the MX Master 4 on September 30, 2025, “priced at $119.99,” with “customizable haptic feedback” and an on-screen Actions Ring of shortcuts. That is $20 over this list’s line, and the haptics are a nice-to-have, not a reason to skip the 3S. The 3S has the same shape and the same kind of scroll wheel, and it is the one that fits the budget.
What fell off the list this year
This section is new since the 2025 edition, and it matters because the same thing will keep happening through the holidays. The chips that store data in a gadget, DRAM and flash memory, got much more expensive in 2026 because AI data centers are competing for the same memory, and consumer-device makers have started passing the cost on. The site’s explainer on the RAM crisis covers the supply side; this is what it did to the gift list.
| Product | Then | Now (Sept 2026) | Who raised it, and why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Echo Dot Max | $99.99 at launch | $119.99 | Amazon, after its August 21 increase: “significant increases in memory and storage component costs” |
| Amazon Echo Dot | $49.99 | $79.99 | Same Amazon increase |
| Roku Streaming Stick Plus (still on this list) | $39.99 at launch | $59.99 | Roku, late July: memory and component shortages |
| Roku Ultra | $100 | $150 | Same Roku increase |
| Raspberry Pi 5, 16GB | $120 at launch | $305 | Raspberry Pi, three rises since December 2025 |
The Amazon row comes from Fortune, which reported on August 21, 2026 that Amazon “overnight raised prices across its hardware product line,” moving the Echo Dot from “$49.99 to $79.99,” the Fire TV Stick 4K Max from “$59.99 to $84.99” and the 16GB Kindle from “$109.99 to $149.99,” and quoted Amazon’s statement that the industry is “facing significant increases in memory and storage component costs. After absorbing these increases for as long as we could, we recently adjusted pricing across our product lines.” Amazon’s launch announcement for the Echo Dot Max said “It’s now available for $99.99”; TechTimes’ table of the new prices puts it at $119.99, a 20 percent increase. The basic Echo Dot is still under $100 at $79.99, but it now costs 60 percent more than the one in last year’s guide, so it lost its slot.
The Roku rows come from The Desk, which broke the story in July: Roku “adjusted the manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of its Roku sticks and set-top boxes,” the Ultra is “now priced at $150, up from $100,” the basic Streaming Stick is “now priced at $40, up from $30,” and a Roku executive, speaking on background, told the site the company made the tough decision to raise prices to address shortages in computer memory and other components caused by the artificial intelligence rush. Roku confirmed the increases to Engadget. The Streaming Stick Plus on this list launched at $39.99 in April 2025 and Roku’s store showed it at $59.99 on September 11, 2026, with the Streaming Stick 4K at $79.99.
The Raspberry Pi row is the starkest, and it is all from Raspberry Pi’s own blog. The 16GB Pi 5 went on sale January 9, 2025 “priced at $120.” On December 1, 2025 the company raised it to $145, citing “the recent unprecedented rise in the cost of LPDDR4 memory.” On February 2, 2026 it added $60 more, to $205, writing that “price rises have accelerated as we enter 2026, and the cost of some parts has more than doubled over the last quarter,” and calling the situation “ultimately a temporary one” it looks forward to unwinding. On April 1, 2026 came a third rise, which The Register reported as “a $100 hike for the 16 GB Raspberry Pi 5.” As of September 11, 2026 the product page reads “Raspberry Pi 5 16GB is available now for $305.” The 8GB board that cost $80 went to $95 in December and $125 in February by the same two posts. A Pi is still a great gift for a tinkerer; just check the current price of the memory size you want before you assume it fits, because the boards with more memory are no longer sub-$100 gifts.
The seven prices in the table above were read on September 11, 2026. Read this list as correct on that date, and worth a 30-second price check the week you buy.
Three rules for buying tech gifts in 2026
1. Ask which phone they have before you buy anything with an Apple logo. AirTags set up only with an iPhone or iPad. Everything else on this list works with both, and the Tile Mate is the Android answer for trackers.
2. Check the maker’s price the week you buy, not the price you remember. The Echo Dot Max and the 8GB Raspberry Pi 5 crossed $100 in 2026, and Roku raised the prices of its sticks and boxes, without anyone announcing a new model. The reverse is also true: Logitech’s own store had the MX Master 3S at $89.99 on September 11, 2026, ten dollars under list.
3. Skip the bundle listing. The camera-plus-film-plus-album kits and the controller-plus-cable packs are sold by third parties at a markup on the same product. Buy the plain item from the maker’s own listing and add film or a case separately.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best tech gift under $100 in 2026?
For most people, the Apple AirTag 2 four-pack at $99, because it solves a problem everyone has and Apple kept the price flat at launch: “$29 for a single AirTag and $99 for a four-pack.” If the person uses Android, the Tile Mate does the same job from $24.99.
What is a good tech gift under $50?
The Anker Nano power bank at $49.99 and the JBL Go 4 at $49.95 both sit just under the line at list price. The power bank is the practical one: 10,000mAh with the USB-C cable built in, so there is no cord to lose. The speaker is the fun one: waterproof to IP67 with a battery JBL rates at up to 7 hours.
What tech gift can I get for under $30?
One AirTag 2 is $29 at Apple, and one Tile Mate is $24.99 at Life360. Both are stocking-stuffer sized and both fix the same daily problem.
Why did tech gifts get more expensive in 2026?
Memory chips. Amazon told Fortune the industry is “facing significant increases in memory and storage component costs,” a Roku executive told The Desk on background that the increase was about shortages of computer memory and other components caused by the AI rush, and Raspberry Pi wrote that “the cost of some parts has more than doubled over the last quarter.” Devices with a lot of memory, like the 16GB Raspberry Pi 5, rose the most.
Is the Echo Dot Max still under $100?
No. Amazon launched it at $99.99 and it went to $119.99 in Amazon’s August 21 increase, per TechTimes’ tally of the new prices. The basic Echo Dot is still under $100 at $79.99, up from $49.99.
Should I buy the Logitech MX Master 3S or wait for a deal on the MX Master 4?
Buy the 3S if the budget is $100. Logitech lists the MX Master 4 at $119.99 and the 3S at $99.99, and the newer mouse adds haptic feedback and an on-screen shortcut ring rather than a better sensor or scroll wheel.
The short version
Start with the phone, then the person; the table at the top does the rest. Earbuds are left off this list on purpose. They deserve their own page, and the budget wireless earbuds guide covers the budget picks.
Sources (24)
- apple.com Apple Newsroom: Apple introduces new AirTag with expanded range and improved findability
- life360.com Tile Mate product page
- roku.com Streaming Stick Plus product page
- ecoustics.com Roku Unveils New TVs and Slimmest Streaming Sticks Ever
- thedesk.net Roku raises prices of streaming devices, ongoing memory shortage blamed
- engadget.com Roku is increasing prices across its hardware range
- anker.com Nano Power Bank (30W, Built-In USB-C Cable) product page
- jbl.com Go 4 product page
- jbl.com Go 4 spec sheet (PDF)
- fujifilm.com Fujifilm Introduces instax mini 13 Instant Camera
- direct.playstation.com PlayStation Direct: DualSense Wireless Controller
- playstation.com DualSense wireless controller
- logitech.com MX Master 3S product page
- tomshardware.com Logitech MX Master 3S Mouse Review
- news.logitech.com Logitech: Remastering an Icon: Introducing Logitech MX Master 4
- aboutamazon.com Echo Dot Max and Echo Studio, built for Alexa+, now available
- techtimes.com Amazon Hikes Device Prices Up to 60%
- fortune.com Amazon quietly hiked prices on Echo, Fire TV, Kindle, and eero
- raspberrypi.com 16GB Raspberry Pi 5 on sale now at $120
- raspberrypi.com 1GB Raspberry Pi 5 now available at $45, and memory-driven price rises
- raspberrypi.com More memory-driven price rises
- raspberrypi.com Buy a Raspberry Pi 5
- theregister.com Prices hiked on most Raspberry Pi 4 and 5 variants
- instax.com Fujifilm: instax mini 13 product site
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