Christmas Gift Guide 2022

It can be tough to know what to get for the loved ones in your life. Hell, it can also be tricky to know what presents to buy for yourself if you’re in need of some self-love, so we’ve put together our annual Christmas Gift Guide for 2022, featuring some of the coolest gifts on the market, along with the best games and gadgets of the year, and everything in-between.

Trust ODY Wireless Keyboard and Mouse Deskset (£22.99 Argos)

I know that many people prefer the loud clack of a mechanical keyboard, but if you work around other people then, trust me, that may not be the most considerate thing to use. While it’s clearly not aimed at top of the range users, the Trust ODY Wireless Keyboard and Mouse is a star buy for working from home users, for example, because the keyboard itself is whisper quiet. Almost like a laptop keyboard but fully formed, it has one USB dongle that connects both keyboard and mouse to your PC or laptop and is cheap enough to probably be considered a stocking filler. For the price it didn’t have to include media hotkeys, but it does, which is a nice touch.

Turtle Beach Fuel VR Charger (£69.99 Direct)

While the device itself has caused a stir by ruining SEO expert’s Christmas and being called “Meta Quest 2” now (nee-Oculus Quest 2), the Fuel Compact VR Charging Station for Meta Quest 2 is something I’ve been looking into for quite a while. Including replacement batteries and battery covers for the controllers, a tiny dongle that makes the headset itself easy to dock to charge, and giving 20+ hours for each controller, this thing isn’t just a way to ensure your VR gear is always charged, but also a superb way to keep awkward shaped tech neat and tidy. It’ll charge the entire lot in under three hours, and really the only black mark is that it doesn’t come with a plug, so you’ll need to either connect to a PC, or find a USB-C plug to get it going.

Sonic Frontiers (£30~ Amazon)

While Sonic Frontiers isn’t the best game released in 2022 by some stretch, it’s definitely the best Sonic game released in years. And it’s also a title that was released right next to God of War Ragnarok, meaning many people could have been tempted, but unable to afford both. With regular deals knocking around making Frontiers somewhere between £25 and £35, it’s another nice stocking filler for someone who likes the blue blur but can’t afford it among all the other blockbuster releases. Also, it’s a weird game. Like, really weird, which isn’t something you see from a big name company like Sega and Sonic Team very often. Well worth a go.

Seagate Firecuda External Hard Drives (£125~ Seagate)

Anyone with a new-gen console or a gaming PC these days will tell you there’s no such thing as too much storage. Luckily, the range of Firecuda External HDDs from Seagate has you covered this Christmas. While they’re not cheap (retailing for between £120 and £150 at time of writing), they’re super fast, easy to set up, and stunning. With a wide range of styles from Spider-Man to the Mandalorian, they look fantastic in amongst anyone’s gaming set up and come in a range of sizes from 1 to 5TB. Pricey, but arguably the best on the market.

Brook Vivid Wireless Controller for Nintendo Switch (£35~ OnBuy)

With stick drift still being a painful reality and the prices of first party hardware still feeling astronomical min some cases, people are often on the lookout for new peripherals around Christmas. For Nintendo Switch users, the Brook Vivid Wireless Controller is the ideal solution. Retailing for around £35, it’s lightweight, sturdy, and functional. With gyroscopic aiming, built-in rumble, turbo buttons and programmable macros, it also comes with stickers, a stand for your handheld device, and changeable thumb pads. The Vivid is available in two colours: Sunshine Yellow and pale Blue, and feels super comfortable to hold. If you’re after a new controller that won’t break the bank this Christmas, look no further.

JSAUX 7-in-1 Multifunction Adapter / Steam Dock (£39.99, Amazon)

While this isn’t the official Steam Dock, it’s half the price, offers loads of ports for you to add keyboard and mouse, and can let you output your signal via Display Port or HDMI. Both options also allow 4K at 60Hz, and it even allows for 100w Fast Charge. If you plan to keep your Steam Deck attached to a TV for the long term there’s also a 6-in-1 version that comes with a slot for an M2 SSD drive. You’ll need to use a power cable as it doesn’t come with one, but due to the way the Steam Deck has its charging port at the top, you’re not really even losing anything aesthetically by going with a JSAUX model instead of the official Dock.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (Various prices, Amazon)

From our 9/10 review: “With a relatively strong campaign and a solid multiplayer experience, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II is one of the best entries in the series. It looks incredible, and the gunplay is as good as it has ever been, with every weapon feeling different in terms of how it fires and controls. The environments are stunning, and the character animations are almost lifelike, with a great sound suite and attention to detail in every facet of the way it looks”.

Apple AirPods Pro 2 (£249.99, Apple)

At the higher end of the tech Christmas Gift Guide 2022 list would be Apple’s AirPods Pro 2s. Now look, I’ve never really been into in-ear headphonnes, but the AirPods Pro 2s have converted me. Offering incredible sound for the size, these things actually offer magic: there’s just no other way of saying it, but the noise cancellation on these things feels like magic. Walking the dog with it turned on, it’s like cars passing on the road aren’t even there. If you don’t like utter silence then the passthrough mode will allow noise through so you can carry out a conversation of be aware of traffic. These things are ridiculous, and if you have a friend who owns them, ask to try them, and you’ll want them.