Why You Can Trust CNET Best Gifts Under $500 for 2024
Feeling generous? Here are some of our favorite gift ideas for that lucky recipient.
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It's possible to find a decent gift priced at $100 or less or even under $50, but sometimes you want to splurge and get something truly exceptional for that special someone. There are some amazing pricier gift options in the $200 to $500 range, and we've rounded up some of our absolute favorites below. Whether you're shopping for a birthday, an anniversary or another special occasion, these gifts are perfect for that person in your life who deserves a little something extra.
When you have a product that a lot of people love, change can be risky. Such is the case for Sony's WH-1000XM5, the fifth generation of the 1000X series headphones, which were first released in 2016 as the MDR-1000X Wireless and have become increasingly popular as they've improved with each generation. Over the years, Sony has made some tweaks to the design, but nothing as dramatic as what it's done with the WH-1000XM5. Other than the higher $400 price tag ($50 more than the WH-1000XM4), most of those changes are good, and Sony's made some dramatic improvements with voice-calling performance as well as even better noise canceling and more refined sound.
Released in 2021, the PartyBox 110 packs some serious punch and delivers bigger sound than many portable boombox speakers, including JBL's own Boombox 3. There's an integrated handle for toting the speaker, but the PartyBox 110 is pretty hefty, weighing in at 23 pounds and measuring slightly more than 22 inches tall. You can stand this Bluetooth boom box up vertically as shown in the picture above or place it horizontally, as it has rubber feet on both sides of the speaker.
It's rated for up to 12 hours of playback time at moderate volume levels and has a redesigned light show that syncs to the beat of your music (you can customize the light show from the speaker itself or use the JBL PartyBox companion app).
The speaker has Bluetooth or a wired USB connection and there are guitar and mic inputs. It's also worth noting that the speaker is IPX4 splash-proof and you can wirelessly link two PartyBox 110 speakers together for stereo sound.
Eagle Creek's Cargo Hauler XT wheeled duffle comes in a few different sizes, starting with a 21.5-inch model that qualifies as a carry-on bag (even internationally) and costs $269. The model shown here is the 32-inch "large-checked," which is a fairly large bag but not huge. Like the other Cargo Hauler XT models in the Eagle Creek line, this one is water resistant and also has hideaway backpack straps built in it so you can carry it on your back up stairs or on dirt paths and everything in between. (The travel lock in the photo is not included.)
Available in four color options (charcoal, earth red, glacier blue and safari brown), the bag is made out of recycled materials and looks and feels quite durable and has a few grab straps and extra pockets. I also thought its wheels operate quite smoothly. It's an ideal bag for a three- to seven-day trip, while the carry-on version is more suitable for weekend or overnight trips.
As a game console, the Quest 3's advantages over the Quest 2 are clear, according to CNET's Scott Stein. There are better graphics, a higher-resolution display, improved controllers and the added mixed reality function. Is it good enough to merit an upgrade? If you're a die-hard Quest gamer, yes. For casual VR users, maybe not, considering it's also $50 more than the Quest 2.
Sonos' entry-level soundbar features the company's excellent multiroom music system onboard. A two-channel soundbar with Dolby Digital decoding, it's roughly two-thirds the size of the also excellent Sonos Beam (gen 2) but delivers a surprisingly wide soundstage through the use of proprietary waveguides.
While it doesn't support Dolby Atmos surround sound or have an HDMI port to connect to your TV (you connect it to your TV with an included optical cable), we were impressed with the sound quality for music and movies. You can pair it with a couple of other Sonos speakers like the Sonos One to create a surround sound system.
A handful of competing stylus-equipped touchscreen E Ink e-readers that double as digital notepads are available from other companies, including Kobo and ReMarkable. But the Kindle Scribe is the only front-lit 10.2-inch E Ink e-reader with a high-resolution 300 ppi (pixels per inch) E Ink display.
The Scribe's size and weight make it more of a burden to carry around, especially when you consider the smaller baseline Kindle can fit into a coat pocket. But in all, the Scribe strikes a very good balance between a large-format e-reader and an E Ink note-taking tablet.
The Epicboom's oval design is a bit of a departure for UE, which is owned by Logitech and has primarily designed Bluetooth speakers with more of a cylindrical shape except for its boxy Hyperboom. UE says the oval design "creates an impressive internal acoustic volume, and is coupled with a 4.6-inch woofer for bass clarity." It doesn't sound quite as good as Sonos' similarly shaped and more expensive Move 2 portable speaker that features both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity (this speaker is Bluetooth only). But the Epicboom packs a good punch and sounds very good for its size, with the ability to fill a small- to medium-sized room with sound. Fully waterproof and dust-proof (IP67 rating), it also seems durable.
Apple's latest iPad is the iPad 10 or iPad 10th Generation. But the ninth generation iPad, released in 2021, is the current entry-level iPad and often sells for less than its list price. It has an A13 Bionic chip processor that's still plenty zippy for most people, and despite this model being on the market for a couple of years, it remains the best budget iPad option. (The Apple Pencil in the photo is not included.) The $329 base version only comes with 64GB of storage, which may not be quite enough for a lot of folks, so look for the 256GB version ($479) to go on sale, which it frequently does.
Vitamix makes some great blenders that are not only powerful but a pleasure to operate and built to last (they come with a free five-year warranty). That said, they tend to be quite expensive, which is why we like to recommend the entry-level Explorian, which is plenty of blender for people and lists for $350 but often sells for closer to $300. It's easy to use and a good value at that price.
When Sony's WF-1000XM4 earbuds came out in 2021, we awarded them a CNET Editors' Choice. And while they're excellent, we had some quibbles -- they're on the large side and aren't a good match for certain ears. Clearly, Sony took those gripes to heart when it set out to design its next-generation WF-1000XM5 flagship noise-canceling earbuds. Not only are the XM5s smaller, but they also offer improved performance pretty much across the board, with better noise canceling, sound and voice calling. Are the XM5s perfect? Not quite. And at $300 -- $20 more than their predecessor -- they're also costly. But overall they're really impressive -- easily among the very top earbuds on the market.
Therabody says the Theragun Sense is "designed to relax both mind and body," combining percussive massage therapy with calming breath work via a companion app that you link to via Bluetooth. When doing the breathing exercises, you hold the Sense up to your chest in both hands and close your eyes. There's a built-in heart-rate sensor that you grip with your finger, as well as haptic feedback that helps guide you through the exercises.
The Theragun Sense isn't as powerful as the step-up Theragun Pro Plus ($599), nor does it have all its bells and whistles, but it's certainly powerful enough for most people. It comes with four attachments: the dampener, standard ball, thumb and micro-point.
If your gift recipient doesn't already have a Nintendo Switch or needs an upgrade, you can't go wrong with this gaming system. This fourth iteration of Nintendo's Switch hybrid handheld adds a bigger, better built-in display (now an OLED screen), plus a redesigned kickstand and TV dock. It's a splurge, but it provides hours and hours of fun with games like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Pikmin 4 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.
Skylight sells a standard 10-inch photo frame that costs $150. But the pricier Skylight Calendar is more than just just a photo frame. It's a 15-inch Wi-Fi-connected digital calendar and planner touchscreen display that allows you to create and show a daily schedule for each member of your family, assign chores and even map out meals (each family member gets their own highlight color). You can prop up the Calendar on a table using the included stand or hang it on a wall with the wall mount that comes in the box as well.
You can choose to auto sync your Google, Apple, Outlook, Cozi or Yahoo calendars to the frame or just use the Skylight mobile app to update the schedule and make assignments. I had no trouble setting it up for my family, which includes four kids. It was also easy to send photos to it and the photos looked good on the 1,920x1,080 HD display (you can set them to appear as a screensaver), though you shouldn't expect the sharpness and color saturation that you'd get with an iPad screen. While Skylight does charge $39 a year for the photo service, that's a pretty reasonable price.
As far as budget TVs go, we've always liked TCL's 4-Series TVs partially because they came with Roku built-in. But TCL appears to be gradually phasing out Roku in favor of Google TV (as its smart TV interface). The TCL 4-Series and 5-Series remain very good budget TV values (the 6-Series is a little more premium), but Vizio's V-Series has slightly better picture quality and is the best overall entry-level TV that we tested.
As CNET's video guru David Katzmaier says, "The Vizio offered the most balanced and accurate picture during our comparisons, and it comes with some useful extras such as Dolby Vision support, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth compatibility and variable refresh rate for potentially smoother gaming." He adds that the biggest downside of the Vizio is its smart TV platform, Vizio SmartCast, which is a bit sluggish and cluttered with ads for platforms such as Tubi and Kidoodle TV. But you can always buy a Roku 4K Express Plus streaming device for around $40 if you don't like it.
The price shown is for the 50-inch model, but the TV also comes in a variety of other sizes up to 75 inches.