- It was long widely believed that women wouldn’t accept a piece of tech unless it were simple, lightly colored, or shiny. Today, the consumer tech industry is finally catching up with reality.
- These days, there’s plenty of tech that is specifically made for women that isn’t blatantly pandering or clearly misguided.
- From headphones and wearables to fun accessories, we’ve found plenty of tech gifts that the women in your life are sure to enjoy.
- Shopping for more gifts? Read all of our gift guides.
Editor’s note: It’s likely that many families will be spending Mother’s Day apart this year due to the impact of coronavirus. Nothing takes the place of time spent together, but if you’re looking to send a gift to Mom in lieu of a visit, we hope this list will help you find exactly what you’re looking for.
Rather than phoning it in with a rhinestone fitness watch or a pair of pastel headphones for her, why not buy the lovely lady in your life the tech gifts she truly wants?
As a woman in the tech media industry, I’ve seen and tested hundreds of gadgets that are made for women to separate the awesome tech products from the awful.
Whether the lady in your life wants a pair of fantastic headphones that are stylish and sound great, hopes to track her fitness in style, or would love stylish accessories for her phone that aren't simply pink, we've found several ideas for top tech gifts for women in your life.
Top 5 tech gifts for women:
- A beautiful piece of smart jewelry that tracks fitness
- A pair of wireless over-ear headphones that look great
- A Kindle Paperwhite ebook reader
- A fun instant camera
- A pretty wireless charger for her phone
A phone grip and stand
PopSocket Grip, available at PopSocket, from $10
PopSocket grips make it super easy to hold even the largest of phones no matter how small a woman's hands may be. The grips stick onto almost any phone case, pop out twice to give excellent grip, and double as a stand when she wants to watch videos. PopSockets come in a multitude of colors, patterns, and styles, so you'll be sure to find one she'll love. I have PopSocket grips on all the different phone cases I use because I can't imagine using my phone without one.
A leather wireless charger
Courant wireless chargers, available at Courant, $64 to $140
Wireless chargers don't have to be ugly or boring. Courant's wireless chargers and wirelessly charging battery packs are sophisticated and beautiful. They're covered in leather and come in a few classy colors, including off white, black, rose, and light blue. We've used these chargers ourselves, and we're certain she'll love them. We particularly like the catch-all that has a space for keys, wallets, jewelry, and any other small items she may have.
A smart display
Google Home Hub, available at Walmart, $129
The Google Home Hub puts all the smarts of the Google Assistant into a smart home hub with screen. That way, she can see visual answers to her questions, the weather forecast, news reports, YouTube videos, and more right on the screen as the Assistant reads back the information. It also has a speaker, so she can play her favorite music. Plus, the Home Hub can control smart home devices.
A piece of smart jewelry
Bellabeat Leaf Urban and Leaf Chakra, available at Amazon, from $119
Bellabeat has been making gorgeous pieces of smart jewelry for years now, and the Leaf Urban and new Leaf Chakra make excellent gifts. Not only does Bellabeat's smart jewelry look fabulous as a necklace, bracelet, or brooch, it also packs a lot of smart features. The Leaf Urban and Chakra can track activity, mindfulness breathing exercises, and sleep patterns. It also doubles as a silent alarm so she'll awaken peacefully each morning. The company also has a new Leaf Crystal tracker that has a Swarovski crystal on it for $199.00.
A smart herb garden
AeroGarden Harvest, available at Walmart and Amazon, $149.95
Who doesn't love fresh herbs? AeroGarden's Harvest herb garden isn't super high-tech, but it is techy in that it uses hydroponics to grow delicious herbs and other produce quickly without much effort on her part. All she has to do to get her herbs growing is pop the seed pods in the planter, give it water regularly, and add the included plant food now and then. The planter does the rest, providing light on a schedule, moving the water, and alerting her when it needs more. In our tests, we had great success with this garden, and we're sure she will, too.
A pair of stylish headphones
V-MODA Crossfade 2 Wireless Over-Ear Headphones, available at B&H Photo, $345.95
V-MODA makes some of my favorite headphones. The Crossfade 2 are wireless, so she doesn't have to deal with wires or worry whether her phone has a headphone jack or not. These are definitely statement headphones, but they are classy looking and the rose gold accents look gorgeous. Most importantly, these headphones sound great.
A Tile Bluetooth tracker for everything
Tile Mate and Tile Slim Bundle (two each, 2018 versions), available at Tile, $59.99
Women have lots of things to keep track of in their lives, and it can be easy to, well, lose track. That's where Tile Bluetooth trackers come in. She can throw one of these on her keys or in her wallet so that she never has to go scrambling for one of those things when it's time for work or an appointment.
A cool, artistic smart light
LIFX Wi-Fi LED Beam Kit, available at Best Buy, $149.99
If her design aesthetic is modern and a bit funky, she might just love Lifx's cool smart light beam kit. The Kit comes with six light beams that she can arrange on a wall in cool patterns to create accent lighting in her home. In the app, she can choose which colors she wants the beams to display and turn her space into an art exhibit. We tried the Beam Kit and we loved it.
The best portable game console around
Nintendo Switch Lite, available at Walmart and Amazon, $199.95
It's widely known by this point that women make up half - if not more - of the overall population of gamers, so chances are your favorite lady is just as excited for the next Super Mario as the boys are. Nintendo's latest console is easy to take on the go and already features hundreds of excellent games.
An attractive hybrid smartwatch
Fossil Charter HR, available at Fossil, $195
If the women in your life don't like smartwatches, but they still want to feel connected to their phones, a smart hybrid watch is a great gift to give. The Fossil Charter HR hides high-tech features inside a classic, attractive, simple, analog watch body.
You'd never know that this watch is so smart by looking at it, but it has a black and white screen that shows notifications, metrics, and the time. It can buzz with notifications, adjust to different time zones, track fitness with a heart rate monitor, control music, and wake her up peacefully with a silent alarm.
A gorgeous Bluetooth speaker
Marshall Stanmore II Wireless Multi-Room Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Speaker, available at Best Buy, $279.99
Although Marshall's aesthetic has traditionally skewed masculine, its newest Bluetooth speakers have subtle touches that look feminine and rock-n-roll at the same time. The Stanmore Bluetooth Speaker comes in three different colors: black, brown, and off-white with subtle gold or rose gold accents.
A fitness tracker that's also a smartwatch
Fitbit Versa 2, available at Best Buy, $173.39
The Fitbit Versa 2 is the best-looking fitness tracker Fitbit has made to date. It looks a bit like a more angular Apple Watch and you can choose from a lot of different brands to personalize it to match your leading lady's style. The Versa 2 has a few smartwatch features and apps, but it's best at fitness tracking and keeping tabs on workouts.
An instant camera
Fujifilm Instax Square SQ20 Camera, available on B&H, $159.95
Instant cameras make cute, fun gifts for shutterbugs, and the new Fujifilm Instax Square SQ20 is the latest and greatest one you can buy. Thanks to a nifty screen on the back, she can preview any photos she takes with it before she prints them - that way she won't waste film on blurry shots. The camera also has 16 different filters, so she can get artistic with her photos.
A pretty phone case
Case-Mate Phone Cases for iPhone and Samsung, available at Amazon, from $10
Case-Mate has a huge range of cases for iPhones and Samsung phones, so you're sure to find one that matches her style. Whether she wants a classic slim leather case, a clear case, or one that's bedazzled, full of glitter, or covered in real pressed flowers, Case-Mate has an option.
The most popular e-reader
Kindle Paperwhite, available at Amazon, $129.99
Amazon's new Kindle Paperwhite is finally waterproof, so she can take it into the bubble bath with her and read until the water cools and the bubbles disappear. The text appears crisp and sharp, thanks to the great backlight and high-quality E-INK screen. Amazon has an unrivaled selection of ebooks available for download and she can get free ebooks or borrow library books on the Kindle.
A good-looking smartwatch
Apple Watch Series 5, available at Best Buy, from $384
The Apple Watch Series 5 is - hands down - the best smartwatch for women. It comes in several great finishes including a classic rose gold one and she can choose from many different watch band options to suit her style. The 40mm casing is also perfect for women's smaller wrists. Beyond beauty, the Apple Watch has serious brains, too. It can track fitness, monitor her heart rate and health, and buzz with important notifications.
A light therapy alarm clock
Philips Wake-Up Light Alarm Clock, available from Philips, $119.95
Waking up to a blaring alarm is hardly ideal, so the Philips Wake-Up Light alarm clock makes a great gift. It uses a colored sunrise simulation to gradually wake you up 20 to 40 minutes before your alarm is set to go off. She can choose between five different nature sounds for the actual alarm, too, so she won't have to deal with a blaring alarm if the light doesn't work its magic. She can use it as a bedside reading lamp, too.
A pair of stylish glasses that block blue light from electronics
Felix Gray Glasses, available at Felix Gray, $95
Blue light from electronics can lead to eye strain and make it hard to fall asleep at night, so why not get her a pair of blue-light-blocking glasses? Felix Gray makes both prescription and non-prescription glasses that look great and work well to block out those harmful blue rays.
A beautiful wireless charger
Native Union Drop Wireless Charger, available at Amazon, from $59.99 to $79.99
Most wireless chargers are boring black or white pucks that are functional but not very pretty. Native Union's Drop charger is the opposite. It comes in a soft rose or dark graphite color that looks gorgeous. The top has grippy silicone on it in a cool pattern so her phone won't slide off it while charging.
A camera lens kit for her phone
Olloclip Lens Kit, available at Olloclip, from $79.99
If she loves taking photos and wishes her phone's camera could do more tricks, pick up an Olloclip lens kit with a fish-eye, wide-angle, and macro lens inside. These lenses work well and are easy to use. The company even has a universal mount in the works.
A pair of touchscreen gloves that are actually warm
UGG Touchscreen Compatible Gloves, available at Amazon, from $79.99
Touchscreen gloves aren't always attractive, but Ugg makes some very nice ones with genuine leather and shearling for warmth and style. These gloves will make it easy for her to use her phone no matter how cold it gets outside.
A mega-popular smart speaker
Amazon Echo, available at Amazon, $99.99
If she doesn't have a smart speaker yet, the Amazon Echo will be a game-changer. This speaker has Alexa inside so she can ask the speaker to play music, answer questions, order products, play games, and so much more. If she has some smart home gadgets, Alexa can control many of those, too.
A pair of truly wireless earbuds
Apple AirPods, available at Walmart and Amazon, $139
When it comes to convenience, truly wireless earbuds are the best. Apple's AirPods are very popular with iPhone and Android users alike. They look fair subtle compared to many other bigger earbuds, and they're incredibly easy to use.
A great pair of over-ear headphones
Bang & Olufsen H4 Headphones, available at Amazon, $247.95
Bang & Olufsen makes some of the most beautiful over-ear headphones you can buy. The new H4 headphones are made from high-quality leather and anodized aluminum. Depending on what color palette your giftee likes, you may want to get her the black ones or the "limestone" ones.
A smart mug that keeps drinks hot
Ember Mug 2, available at Bed Bath & Beyond and Best Buy, $129.99
With the app-controlled Ember Mug, her favorite hot drink will never get cold again. In the app, she can choose the exact temperature she likes her beverage to be at for drinking, and the mug will keep it at that temperature for up to 80 minutes per charge. The mug itself is made of stainless steel that's been coated in ceramic.
