23NOV2025: Holiday Gift Guide Edition

Happy Sunday everyone!

As we head into Thanksgiving week here Stateside, a whole bunch of companies are preemptively starting their “Black Friday” sales, so it seems like an apt time to share this year’s Hiro Report holiday shopping guide! As usual, I’m sharing below a whole bunch of Hiro-approved gift ideas spread across four price brackets:

$ = ≤$50
$$ = ≤$100
$$$ = ≤$200
$$$$ = Splurge

As always, if you’re looking for recommendations for anything in particular, just drop me a note— happy to help!

Note that some of the links in this issue of the Hiro Report are affiliate links and may earn the newsletter a small commission at no additional cost to you.  

SPONSORED by Wimp Decaf

Sponsor or not, I’ll keep shouting from the rooftops about the magic of good decaf coffee. If you read the news at all or spend any time on social media, it is abundantly clear that we collectively as a species all could really benefit from chilling out just a little more. What if you could chill out and still enjoy the ritual and flavor of making excellent coffee at home? My buddies over at Wimp Decaf are making just that possible. Go try a sampler of their different beans (Hachiko is my favorite for pour over, and Coltrane is my favorite for espresso). Use code “HIRO20” for 20% off at checkout!

Learn More

Alright, on to the good stuff!

EVERYDAY USE

• Baron Fig Confidant Notebook – This is my favorite notebook/journal. It not only looks super clean; it has dreamy, fountain-pen-friendly paper. $
• Kaweco Classic Sport Pen – A timeless fountain pen that is great fun to write with and easily slips into a pocket. Love this thing. $
• KeepCup Travel Mug – Probably the cutest travel drink mug I own. The cord handle is just a super fun touch, and I like drinking out of the tempered glass more than my usual insulated metal mugs. $
• Big Idea Design Baseline Pen – I’ve got a ton of pens from these guys, they’re all beautiful, tougher than nails, and fun to write with. This one’s fun because it’s so pocketable. $$
• Papanui Hell Cat WWII Cap – My favorite baseball hat. It’s made in a vintage style from surplus WWII Frogskin Camo fabric. Super quirky. $$$
• Benchmade Bugout Knife – A really solid, good-looking pocket knife is an essential. The Bugout is an excellent, all-purpose knife that’s not only a great first pocket knife but also still respected by knife nerds with massive collections. $$$
• CIVIC CPL Backpack in X-Pac – Hands down my favorite backpack for both working from a coffeeshop for the day or for taking into the woods for a day hike. $$$$

TECH

• Nuphy Kick75 Keyboard – I use this keyboard every day and just love it. Super fun design, plenty of keys, a great customizable twisty knob, customizable lights when you type, and more. $$
• Anker Qi2 MagSafe iPhone Charger – Is this a romantic gift? No. Will it absolutely save their ass when their battery is low and look good doing it? Yes. $$
• T.E. PO-33 Sampler + Sequencer – This unique little device looks like an old-school calculator but is actually a fairly sophisticated sampler and sequencer for making beats on the fly… Plus it fits in your pocket! $$
• BambuLab A1 Mini 3D Printer – The absolute no-brainer best way to get someone started with 3D printing. And it is currently back down to its pre-tariff pricing of $199. $$$
• Home Assistant Green – Give the gift of easy smart home automation with this do-it-all hub that lets you bring most any smart device into the Apple HomeKit ecosystem. $$$
• Outin Mino Travel Espresso Maker – This tiny device lets you brew espresso from ground beans or from Nespresso pods when camping or roughing it at Folgers-loving in-laws. It’ll even heat the water for you! $$$
• Flipper Zero – This little hacker multi-tool makes a great gift precisely because it’s the kind of thing it really doesn’t make sense for most of us to buy for ourselves… but it’s a lot of fun to play with. $$$$
• Fellow Aiden Brewer – Perfect for the coffee-loving gadget geek in your life. This smart brewer makes amazing coffee. $$$$

TOYS

• Doctor Popular’s Yo-Yo Starter Kit + Comic Book – Do you remember how fun yo-yos are? Doc Pop has a way of making them even more fun and cool. $
• TrimUI Brick Retro Gaming Handheld – This is my go-to recommendation for someone wanting to get into retro gaming. It’s a great-looking handheld and comes with a nice starter library of games. $
• Taiyaki Waffle Maker – If you haven’t had Taiyaki fish waffles, you’re missing out—they’re tasty, usually filled with red bean paste, Nutella, or something else delicious, and they’re shaped like fish! $
• X1 Hover Drone – Another great way to get into an otherwise expensive and complex hobby… Previously I’d recommended the DJI NEO, which is quite good, but there is a distinct possibility of DJI drones being banned here in the U.S. $$$
• Teenage Engineering EP-133 – This is one of the most fun toys I’ve gotten in recent years. It’s a great fun beat maker and sampler from the kings of fun physical product design. Think of it as the big sister of the PO-33 linked above. $$$$

LIFESTYLE

• Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson – A samurai sword–bearing pizza delivery guy, the mafia, ancient Sumerian mythology, and one of the best-named protagonists in modern fiction. Give the gift of some of cyberpunk’s finest. $
• Spinware Stoneware Cups – These are far and away my favorite cups for espresso and latte drinks, so satisfying to hold and great looking to boot. $
• SimpleBits Fonts – A little out of the box, but rather than mailing a package across the world, what if you bought someone a really cool font they could use forever? $
• Breath by James Nestor – This is one of the few books that I routinely give out as a gift because it’s so universally helpful and practical. $
• Flair Neo Flex Lever Espresso Maker – I love this affordable, tabletop lever-action espresso machine. It’s perfect for someone wanting to dip their toes into the steamy waters of espresso without dropping a couple hundred (or thousand) dollars. $$
• Otto Smart Sprinkler – This amazing smart sprinkler system has been a game changer for our lawn and garden care. $$$$
• Mercury Spacecraft 1:1 Replica Shingle – This is for a very specific type of nerd that would appreciate an exact replica of a prominent piece of the Mercury spacecraft capsule… Hello, I am that nerd. $$$$

That’s it for this week! May you be happy, healthy, and at peace!

p.s. It’s Thanksgiving here in the U.S. on Thursday. I’d just like to say a sincere thank you to all of you for reading this nerdy newsletter each week. You all make doing this a lot of fun, and I’m incredibly grateful for your trust, feedback, and support.