30 Gift Ideas for Hackers: The Best Geek Gadgets for Friends and Yourself – Part 1
Looking for the perfect gift for your tech-savvy friends or yourself? Here’s a curated list of 30 awesome devices and gadgets that any hacker or geek will appreciate. This is Part 1 of our guide, featuring a wide range of tools, toys, and hardware for every budget and skill level.
1. Ubertooth One
Ubertooth is an open-source hardware device for Bluetooth and Bluetooth LE experimentation. It can capture and demodulate radio signals in the 2.4 GHz ISM band with 1 MHz bandwidth and frequency modulation. Why is this useful? Many wireless devices, including smartwatches, fitness bands, keyboards, and electronic locks, use Bluetooth, and many don’t encrypt their traffic. While you can’t easily eavesdrop on encrypted calls, Ubertooth is great for learning Bluetooth hacking and intercepting signals from keyboards and other devices. Price: around $120.
2. Levenhuk DTX 50 Digital Microscope
This digital microscope is perfect for inspecting circuit boards, checking solder quality, finding micro-defects, and reading chip markings. Essentially, it’s a modified webcam with a reversed lens, ring light with adjustable brightness, focus ring, and a stand. Cheaper models start at about $25, but higher-end versions with better optics and sensors are recommended. The device costs around 6,500 rubles.
Tip: If you can’t focus, try adjusting the zoom or changing the distance to the object. These microscopes have basic autofocus, which can be thrown off by the built-in lighting at close range.
3. Philips Hue Starter Kit
Smart bulbs are still a novelty, making a starter kit a fun and practical gift. Philips products are reliable, though not cheap. A starter kit with a hub and two white bulbs starts at about 7,000 rubles, while a more advanced version with three bulbs and a switch costs around 15,000 rubles. If ordering internationally, make sure the bulb base and hub plug are compatible with your region.
4. LimeSDR Mini
SDR (Software-Defined Radio) devices are digital radio receivers with channel scanning, perfect for hacking and research. They support a wide frequency range (24–1700 MHz), covering everything from pilot communications and city services to ISS broadcasts, electronic locks, and cellular signals. The LimeSDR Mini is an affordable SDR, costing about $140, and is a great alternative to pricier options like HackRF or BladeRF.
5. Trezor Bitcoin Wallet
Hardware wallets for cryptocurrency have been around for a few years, and Trezor was one of the first. It’s one of the safest ways to protect your wallet.dat and your hard-earned coins. To make payments, you enter a PIN and connect via USB. The six-line OLED display shows transaction details, and mechanical buttons confirm transfers, ensuring security even on untrusted computers. Supports Bitcoin, Litecoin, DASH, Zcash, and more. Price: 90 euros.
6. BeagleBone
If you’ve tried various single-board computers, you know the options are vast—from the beginner-friendly Raspberry Pi to experimental boards like Banana Pi. For hacking projects, BeagleBoard is an excellent choice, serving as a base for custom Wi-Fi routers or interface stations. Its main advantage is USB proxying thanks to built-in USB host and OTG support, which is rare among single-board computers. Price: from $50.
Alternatively, the Raspberry Pi 3B is great for beginners, with a full kit costing about 5,000–6,000 rubles. For a budget option, check out the Raspberry Pi Zero W (about 2,000 rubles), which has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth but fewer ports.
7. Orico HDD External Docking Station
This docking station with eSATA and USB 3.0 interfaces lets you connect SATA drives (HDD/SSD) of any size and form factor (2.5″/3.5″) with a single motion—no tools required. Passive cooling means no noise, and you can add a 120mm fan for extra cooling. Orico’s docks are reliable and cost about $30. They also offer old-school eSATA docks for advanced drive management and data recovery.
8. Apple AirPods
If your friend is an Apple fan or uses an iPhone, AirPods are a great gift. They’re lightweight, sound good for their size, and switch between devices seamlessly. They also automatically pause when you remove one earbud. Official price in Russia: 12,000 rubles.
9. Batband
Bone conduction headphones transmit sound directly through your skull, freeing your ears. While not new, Batband offers a more elegant design than most alternatives. Price: $200.
10. Arduino Mini
The Arduino platform and its many clones are perfect for learning microcontroller programming. Russian kits from Amperka focus on ease of learning, with Russian-language guides and ready-made circuits. The full kit costs 1,400 rubles. Note: Arduino is best for learning and prototyping, not for building advanced or permanent projects.
11. “Technocube”
When gifting a beginner maker kit, it’s great if it can be assembled into something functional right away. “Technocube” is a cube with LEDs that sits on your desk and notifies you of various events. The main fun is building it yourself. Price: 2,500 rubles.
12. STM32 Discovery
Serious embedded developers prefer 32-bit ARM chips like STM32 over 8-bit boards like Arduino. STM32 Discovery kits start at 1,500 rubles and include two STM32 chips—one for debugging the other. The ST-Link v2 technology allows one STM32 to debug another, and the debugger chip can be used for programming other ARM microcontrollers as well.
Tip: For advanced STM32 development, try STM32CubeMX and SystemWorkbench IDE. CubeMX generates initialization code and configures pins and frequencies, while SystemWorkbench is an Eclipse-based IDE with toolchains and flashing tools.
13. HydraBUS
HydraBUS is another cool STM32-based hacker device. It supports a huge number of embedded interfaces, often with no coding required. The HydraFW firmware offers a simple command interface and scripting for automation. Scripts are stored on an SD card, and auto-execution is possible. Price: 50 euros.
14. HydraNFC
HydraNFC is a hardware add-on for HydraBUS, making it the best kit for NFC hacking. Scripting attacks is easy, and it’s much cheaper than the well-known Proxmark. The standalone HydraNFC board costs 80 euros, or 150 euros for the full kit.
15. MiniPro TL866CS
This universal parallel programmer supports over 13,000 integrated circuits. It’s popular for automotive chip tuning, odometer correction, and reflashing motherboards and appliances. Connects via USB and works best with Windows 7 x86. Price: 3,000 rubles.
16. FT2232H USB 2.0 Hi-Speed Breakout Board
FTDI FT232-based boards are versatile for working with UART, SPI, I2C, and JTAG interfaces. The FT232H chip supports MPSSE (Multi-Protocol Synchronous Serial Engine) for hardware emulation of these interfaces, offering much higher speeds than bit-bang mode. The FT232H board can reach 12 Mbps in UART mode and 6 Mbps in MPSSE mode. Price: $27.
17. Bus Blaster v4
If you need more speed and interfaces, check out FT2232H-based devices like the Bus Blaster v4. It features a Xilinx CPLD for logic level conversion and supports various JTAG modifications, including SWD. Price: $45.
18. Pastilda
Pastilda is an open-source hardware password manager based on STM32. It looks like a long flash drive with two USB ports—one for a keyboard, one for the computer. It works in transparent or secure mode, with password storage in KeePass format decrypted only in Pastilda’s memory. Price: $65.
19. PulseRain M10
FPGA development boards like PulseRain M10 expand the capabilities of single-board computers, adding GPIO and offloading data processing. PulseRain M10 is Arduino-compatible and fully open-source. Pre-order price: $85.
20. Xiaomi Mi Band 2
Mi Band 2 is a lightweight, long-lasting fitness tracker that tracks steps, heart rate, sleep, and notifications. It’s water-resistant, works with iPhone and Android, and costs just 1,500 rubles.
21. Nokia Steel HR
Withings (now Nokia) makes smart scales and health gadgets, but their stylish Steel HR watch is a great gift. It tracks steps, sleep, and heart rate, and costs about 20,000 rubles.
22. PocketCHIP
PocketCHIP is a dock for the C.H.I.P. single-board computer, adding a touchscreen, mini QWERTY keyboard, and battery in a compact case. It features an ARM v7 processor, 512 MB RAM, Mali 400 GPU, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and programmable I/O. Price: $70 (currently out of stock). You can still buy a license for the PICO-8 fantasy console emulator developed for PocketCHIP.
23. Sparrows Lock Picks
Lockpicking is a classic hacker hobby. Simple locks can be opened with a paperclip, but more advanced practice requires proper picks. Sparrows offers beginner-friendly sets starting at $20.
Warning: Buying lock picks without a special permit is illegal in some countries, including Russia. Packages may be seized, and you could face legal consequences. Consider receiving them abroad and bringing them back personally.
24. TP-Link WN722N
This Wi-Fi adapter is practical and great for hacking experiments. The Atheros chipset supports various Wi-Fi attacks and works with Android devices via USB-OTG. Price: about 700 rubles. Look for version 1.x (version 2 uses a different chipset).
25. GL-MiFi
This portable router can share mobile internet and is perfect for hacking or privacy projects. It features an Atheros AR9331 chip, mini-SIM slot, battery, and optional external antennas. It runs OpenWRT/LEDE, and you can download Tor-enabled firmware or build your own. The Quectel EC20/EC25 modem is highly hackable, allowing firmware mods, IMEI changes, and IMSI catching. Price: about $100.
26. WiFi Pineapple
This well-known device is designed for quick MitM attacks over Wi-Fi. It mimics other access points and collects traffic from unsuspecting users. It’s a mini router with OpenWRT firmware and three network interfaces. The cheapest NANO Basic version costs $100, while more advanced models go up to $230. Alternatively, you can build a similar device using GL-Inet routers.
27. GPD Pocket
The GPD Pocket is a full-featured laptop in a 7-inch tablet-sized case, featuring an Intel Cherry Trail X7-Z8700, 8 GB RAM, 128 GB storage, two USB ports, HDMI, and Windows 10 (or Ubuntu). Price: about 30,000 rubles.
28. Ockel Sirius B
This device looks like an external hard drive but is actually a full Windows 10 PC. Just connect a monitor, keyboard, and mouse, and you’re ready to go. Specs: 4 GB RAM, 32/64 GB storage, Atom x5-Z8350. Price: from $299.
29. Asus VivoStick PC
This portable Windows 10 PC fits in your pocket and plugs directly into HDMI. It has two USB ports and an audio jack. Specs: 2 GB RAM, 32 GB storage, Atom x5-Z8350. Price: about 10,000 rubles.