Christmas, unlocked: 20 gaming gifts for consoles, PCs and phones
From pocket-sized controllers to a laptop that runs anything, these are the gifts that will keep the household busy long after the King’s Speech.
Console prices have climbed sharply in 2026, so every gaming gift now has to justify its place under the tree. A present that ends up in a drawer by February is money wasted. We’ve chosen 20 that won’t: big-box consoles for the whole family, desk upgrades for PC players, sim gear for armchair pilots and would-be racing drivers, and the unglamorous storage every gamer secretly needs. All prices are UK, and they run from under £60 to a proper splurge, so whatever your budget, there’s something here worth wrapping.
- The big-box moment under the tree
- Build the battlestation
- For armchair pilots and Sunday racers
- Controllers and cans for every pair of hands
- Never delete a game again
The big-box moment under the tree
Xbox Series X
Plenty of households still keep a shelf of physical games, and for them the disc-drive Series X is the one to wrap. Its 1TB of storage and 4K UHD Blu-ray drive make it the family’s console and its film player at once. That’s one less box under the TV and one less remote to lose down the sofa. Game Pass gives it a big library from day one, which matters when a new console arrives with only one game in the box. This summer’s price rise does hurt, though. If nobody in the house buys discs, the all-digital model saves you £50 and plays exactly the same games.
£669.99 (disc) / £619.99 (digital), xbox.com
Nintendo Switch OLED
The 7-inch OLED screen is still the nicest way to play Mario Kart on a sofa. Colours pop and blacks are deep enough that night-time levels finally look like night. This is the Switch we’d buy for younger players: it’s sturdy and simple, and the back catalogue is huge, from Zelda to Animal Crossing. The dock has a wired LAN port for steadier online play, and the wide adjustable stand actually holds steady on a train table or a hotel desk. The Switch 2 is £419.99 if you want the newer machine, but the OLED is the better-value present and plays every original Switch game.
£309.99 RRP, nintendo.com
Steam Deck OLED
Whoever unwraps this can take their whole Steam library on the train, to the in-laws, or under the duvet. The 7.4-inch 90Hz HDR OLED screen makes indie games look fantastic, and the 512GB model has room for a sensible collection plus a few big blockbusters. Because it runs the Steam games the owner already bought, it’s the rare gift that comes with a ready-made library. Valve raised the price by £170 in May, so it’s now firmly a premium present. It’s still the best PC handheld for anyone sitting on a backlog of unplayed sale purchases.
£649 (512GB) / £779 (1TB), store.steampowered.com
Meta Quest 3S
No other headset gets someone into VR for this little money. It needs no PC, no cables and no base stations, just the headset and two Touch Plus controllers. Each eye gets 1832 x 1920 pixels, sharp enough for Beat Saber and the fitness apps to feel properly physical, and setting it up takes about ten minutes. It’s brilliant at parties too, because watching a relative swing at invisible blocks is half the fun. Clear a bit of space in the living room before Christmas morning, and maybe move the good vase.
£319.99 (128GB) / £409.99 (256GB), meta.com
How to buy a console in a price-hike year
CHECK THE STORAGE FIRST
New games regularly top 100GB, and a console’s free space disappears faster than people expect. A cheaper machine with a small drive can end up costing more once you add storage, so factor that in before you compare price tags.
DIGITAL-ONLY ISN’T ALWAYS CHEAPER
A disc drive lets you buy pre-owned games, trade them in and borrow from friends. Over the life of a console that can easily save more than the £50 difference, especially in a house with kids who finish games quickly.
BUNDLES BEAT DISCOUNTS
Retailers rarely cut console prices any more. They add games, controllers or subscriptions instead. Judge a deal by what’s in the box, not just the price, and check whether the included game is one the recipient actually wants.
Build the battlestation
ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14
At 15.9mm thick and 1.5kg, it fits in a work bag without fuss, and the RTX 5060 inside handles current games at high settings. The Ryzen 9 chip, 32GB of RAM and 1TB SSD mean it does real work between gaming sessions too, from editing photos to running far too many browser tabs. The 14-inch 3K OLED screen at 120Hz is one of the best displays on any laptop. It’s the gaming laptop for people who don’t want to be seen carrying a gaming laptop, with none of the plastic-spaceship styling the category is known for. The 2026 model costs £2,199.99, but last year’s version is the smarter buy for the money.
£1,799, currys.co.uk
Samsung Odyssey OLED G6
A 500Hz refresh rate sounds excessive until you play a shooter on it. Movement looks almost unnaturally smooth, and the 0.03ms response time means fast action never smears. The 27-inch QD-OLED panel runs at QHD resolution, so it’s sharp as well as fast, and the contrast makes dark corridors genuinely dark. It’s also a lovely screen for films and slower games, not just competitive play. It’s a splurge, there’s no getting around that, but it’s the single best upgrade a serious PC player can get this year.
approx. £799, pricespy.co.uk
CHERRY XTRFY K63W Pro
This is the first keyboard to use ultra-wideband wireless, which lets it poll at 8000Hz without a cable, and you can feel that responsiveness in fast games. The compact 70% layout keeps the F-row but trims everything else, freeing up desk space for big mouse sweeps. Its 6000mAh battery runs for up to 1,100 hours, so charging becomes something you do every few months, not every few days. The low-profile switches feel quick and the gasket mount takes the harshness off each press. The catch is no Bluetooth, so this is a gaming keyboard first and a laptop companion second.
£179.99 RRP, cherryxtrfy.com
Logitech G Pro X Superlight 2c
At 51g it’s lighter than plenty of phone cases. After an evening with it, a standard mouse feels like a brick tied to a string. The HERO 2 sensor tracks at up to 44,000 DPI, and one charge lasts up to 95 hours, so it’s a full week of heavy play before it needs the cable. It’s the 2c, a smaller version of the original, shaped for small and medium hands that find most esports mice too long. If the recipient plays shooters, this is the upgrade they’ll notice within the first round.
£103.99, argos.co.uk
Secretlab Titan Evo
Long sessions are hard on backs, and this is the chair most people end up buying after a couple of cheaper mistakes. The 4-way lumbar support is built into the backrest, and the armrests move in every direction you’d want. It feels supportive without being stiff. It doubles as a proper office chair, which makes it easier to justify for anyone who works from home and games after hours. Secretlab’s current sale ends on 12 November, so check the price before you pay full whack.
approx. £469, secretlab.co.uk
Philips Hue Play Gradient Lightstrip for PC
This strip fixes to the back of a 24 to 27-inch monitor and spreads the on-screen colours onto the wall behind it. A sunset in a racing game suddenly fills the whole room, and an explosion flashes across the wall. It also makes a desk look finished in a way RGB fans never quite manage. It works over Bluetooth straight out of the box for simple colour scenes. To sync it live with what’s on screen, you’ll need a Hue Bridge, so add one if the recipient doesn’t already have Hue lights at home.
£79.99, philips-hue.com
Elgato Stream Deck MK.2
Fifteen customisable LCD keys put mic mute, scene switching and Discord on single presses. Anyone who streams will wonder how they ever managed with keyboard shortcuts. It’s just as useful for non-streamers, who can launch games, skip music tracks or fire off macros in Photoshop with one tap. Each key shows its own icon, so you never forget what you’ve mapped where. It connects over USB-C and sits on a detachable stand at a comfortable angle, and the faceplates swap out so it can match the rest of the desk.
£149.99, argos.co.uk
For armchair pilots and Sunday racers
Thrustmaster T.Flight HOTAS NEO Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve Edition
Ace Combat 8 is out, and this stick-and-throttle set is made for it. It wears the game’s fighter-jet livery and comes mapped for AC8 straight out of the box, so there’s no fiddling with settings before the first dogfight. You get 7 axes, 16 action buttons and built-in vibration, so missile launches and cannon fire buzz through your hand. It’s just as happy in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, where a real stick and throttle make a slow flight over the Alps far more convincing than a gamepad does. Check the box before you wrap it: there’s a PlayStation and PC version and a separate Xbox and PC version.
£109.99, thrustmaster.com
Thrustmaster T98 Ferrari 296
This is the only officially licensed PlayStation, Xbox and PC racing wheel under £100, and the bundle includes Hall effect pedals. It works with Forza Horizon 6, Gran Turismo 7 and F1, and it clamps to a desk or table in minutes, then packs away when you need the space back. Its 240 degrees of rotation make steering feel far more natural than thumbsticks, and a Ferrari-style manettino dial switches between three levels of driving assistance, so beginners and confident drivers can share it. It’s a great first wheel for a young racer, and the adults in the house will happily borrow it. Buy the GTB version for PlayStation and the GTS version for Xbox.
£89.99 RRP (from £80.07), amazon.co.uk
Controllers and cans for every pair of hands
GXTrust Forta Wireless Gaming Headset
It’s officially licensed for PS5 and has a 2.4GHz wireless dongle, so voice chat stays in sync with the action and there’s no cable to trip over on the way to the fridge. The battery lasts up to 55 hours, which beats headsets at twice the price and means it’ll get through the whole Christmas break on one charge. The 50mm drivers sound bigger than you’d expect for the money, and the swivelling ear cups and soft padding stay comfortable through long sessions. The detachable mic and on-ear mute button make it easy to drop out of party chat when dinner’s ready.
£64.99, argos.co.uk
8BitDo Ultimate 2 Bluetooth
The TMR thumbsticks are built to resist stick drift, the slow failure that sends so many controllers to the bin. Add Hall effect triggers you can switch between linear and tactile, plus a charging dock, and this beats most first-party controllers for both feel and convenience. It works with Switch, Switch 2 and Windows PCs, so it’s a safe gift when you’re not quite sure what someone plays on. The dock keeps it topped up and gives it a home on the desk, so it doesn’t vanish into sofa cushions. For the price, it’s the best all-rounder controller we can recommend.
approx. £54, 8bitdo.com
Backbone Pro
Clip a phone into it and Call of Duty Mobile plays like a console game. Take the phone out and it works as a wireless controller for a PC, tablet or smart TV. It has full-size ALPS sticks, Hall effect triggers, two remappable back buttons and up to 40 hours of wireless play, so it’s comfortable for proper sessions, not just a quick game on the bus. For anyone who streams games from the cloud or a console at home, it turns a phone into a surprisingly capable handheld. It’s expensive for a mobile controller, but it’s the most versatile one you can buy.
£169.99, backbone.com
Xbox Wireless Controller
It’s the safest stocking filler for any Xbox or PC player, because every household with an Xbox needs a spare for the second player. It pairs over Bluetooth with phones, tablets and Windows PCs as well, which makes it handy for cloud gaming on the go. The textured grips and hybrid D-pad are a real improvement on older Xbox pads, and AA batteries give up to 40 hours of play. The colour editions make it feel like a proper present, not a replacement part.
approx. £59.99, xbox.com
Never delete a game again
Seagate One Touch Portable
This small drive backs up a PC, Mac or console library while taking up almost no room in a bag. It has password protection with AES-256 hardware encryption and scheduled automatic backups, so holiday photos and game saves can live on it safely, and it includes Rescue data recovery if anything goes wrong. It’s not a flashy gift, but it’s one people thank you for months later when a laptop dies. The 2TB model is good value, and the 5TB version is around £120 if the recipient has an enormous library.
approx. £72 (2TB), seagate.com
Seagate Astro Bot Limited Edition Game Drive 5TB
Astro Bot’s eyes glow along the bottom edge thanks to built-in LED lighting, which makes this the most collectable hard drive we’ve seen. Its 5TB holds up to 60 games. PS4 titles play straight from the drive, and PS5 games are stored there until you’re ready to copy them back and play. It looks great lined up next to an Astro Bot DualSense, so PlayStation fans will love it as a display piece as much as storage. It also comes with a three-year warranty.
approx. £150, seagate.com
That’s a sleigh full of gaming kit, from £54 stocking fillers to the laptop of someone’s dreams. Whoever unwraps one of these will be busy well into January.
