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Buying the right gift for a teenage boy can be daunting. Life as a teen is hard enough, without having to verbalize the things they want for their birthday or for Christmas.
With that challenge in mind, we went ahead and created the most comprehensive list of the best gifts for 13-year-old boys known to man. Seriously, this is the list to end all lists.
We put a ton of time and thought into creating this carefully-curated selection of presents and we’re certain that it will bring put a smile on the face of the teen in your life—whether it’s your son, grandson, nephew, or godson.
Our top picks include the following:
- Remote control quadricopter with an HD camera
- Amazon Kindle Fire
- App-Enabled Star Wars Droid
- App-Enabled Robot
- Nikon Coolpix Digital Camera
- iPod shuffle
- Skullcandy Bluetooth Wireless Headphones
- Acoustic Guitar Package with Instructional Software
- Archery Set
- Artisan Longboard
- The Settlers of Catan Board Game
- Smash Up Game
- Pandemic Board Game
- Video Gaming Chair
- Customizable Gaming Mouse
- Wireless Gaming Headset with Surround Sound
- PlayStation Vita
- Snap Circuits Electronic Discovery Kit
- Biological Compound Microscope
For other gift suggestions related to art, photography, music and science, check out our other list here, which also some great ideas your teen will love.
This special gift list is organized by interest, and as you can see, we’ve got something for everyone, from the gamer to the musically inclined, and from the budding engineer to the athlete.
And since no gift is perfect in every way, we've tried to give you the full scoop on each product by listing both the good and the bad about each one. Happy hunting!
Cool tech and robotic gifts
Remote control quadricopter with HD camera
Has Timmy always wanted his own drone? Well, you’re in luck! This quadricopter does not mess around, folks. It’s the perfect drone for beginners and can fly both inside and outside. And it’s got a few tricks up its sleeve too: it can flip upside down, and it takes pictures and even videos.
What we love:
- It's very easy to get your hands on replacement parts
- It's extremely stable in the wind and very easy to control
- Previous customers consider this drone to be excellent value-for-money
What we don't love:
- The video resolution isn't stellar—more like that of a camera from the early 2000s
- Flight times are on the short side: 7 minutes of flight for 100 minutes of charge time
- Previous buyers say that shipping can take a long time
HD 7-inch Fire Tablet
If the 13-year-old in your life doesn’t already have one, a tablet makes a great gift. Amazon’s 7-inch HD Fire tablet offers a ton of bang for your buck, allowing you to download apps, books, music, TV shows and a boatload of cool games.
What we love:
- It's fast, which is good news for an impatient teen
- It's got a long battery life, lasting up to 7 hours (perfect for long car rides!)
- It's fantastically durable
What we don't love:
- It only comes with 8 GB of internal storage (but you can add another 128 GB with a microSD card)
- Some users say the tablet isn't user friendly and lacks options for customization
- If you install parental controls, the user is blocked completely from the internet
App-Enabled Star Wars Drone
When we read about these, we instantly wanted one! Because really, what’s cooler than a robotic droid who interacts with you? BB-8 is more than a toy, it’s a real companion. You can let it explore on its own or give it commands, and it’s capable of understanding voice commands as well. Bring a part of Star Wars: The Force Awakens into your home.
What we love:
- It lets you create and view holographic recordings
- It's able to listen and respond to voice commands
- It's easy to play with, right out of the box
What we don't love:
- It often bumps into things
- It doesn't have a camera or a speaker, and doesn't make any sounds
- When it collides with objects, sometimes the head falls off
App-Enabled Robot
Darkside is “an electrical beast that draws its energy from unrestrained competition and reckless abandonment”. It’s prepared for high-impact collisions, is extremely agile, and is capable of doing hundreds of unique trick combos your teen will want to master.
The good news:
- The battery lasts considerably long, for over an hour
- It's fantastically resilient
- It's easy to control and get the hang of
The bad news:
- It lacks off-roading capabilities and has trouble moving on grass
- It can get scratched quite easily, though it's durable and won't break
- A few buyers had problems initially connecting with Bluetooth
Nikon Coolpix Digital Camera
You can’t go wrong with a cool, new camera for the 13-year-old in your life. This lightweight option from Nikon is an excellent product which produces sharp photos and HD videos, has an outstanding zoom function, and features self-timer and 74 MB of storage capacity. If he doesn’t already have a camera, this will make his day.
What we love:
- This is an excellent camera for beginners
- It's affordable and offers excellent bang for your buck
- A full charge allows for up to 300 shots
What we don't love:
- Some previous buyers say the autofocus function could be improved
- The camera doesn't come with a memory card
Gift ideas for the musically inclined 13-year-old
iPod Shuffle
You simply cannot go wrong with an iPod shuffle. You can quote us on that. You can’t go wrong with an Apple product in general, but this little music player is the perfect gift for letting your 13-year-old take his music with him, everywhere he goes. It’s small, subtle, cool, and affordable.
What we love:
- This baby can store hundreds of songs, as well as playlists and audiobooks
- The clip on the back makes it virtually impossible to lose
- Your youngin' can enjoy 15 hours of audio between charges
What we don't love:
- The Shuffle is only 2 GB
- It's not the best device for listening to podcasts
- There's no screen, which means you can't visibly navigate through songs
Skullcandy Bluetooth Wireless Headphones
The Hesh 2 is an outstanding option for any music lover, and any young boy will surely love to have a pair of these iconic headphones. They are noise isolating, offer a nice, clean sound, and feature plush memory foam ear pillows—they’re as comfortable as they come!
What we love:
- These wireless headphones connect with other devices via Bluetooth and offer considerable sound range
- The battery lasts up to 12 hours after a single complete charge
- They have an onboard mic built in, which allows the user to adjust the volume, answer phone calls and choose songs
What we don't love:
- These headphones don't have a very strong bass and may lack oomph for some users' taste
- Previous buyers say they can feel stiff at first, and sometimes heavy
- The location of the USB port is somewhat inconvenient
Acoustic Guitar with Instructional Software
Do you have a budding singer/songwriter on your hands? Has your 13-year-old always wanted to learn how to plan an instrument? This pack comes with an amazing acoustic guitar, a guitar tuner and strap, picks, a chord chart, an extra set of strings, and instructional software with 20 step-by-step lessons.
What we love:
- You get a month of access to more than 11,000 HD video guitar lessons and more than 600 song lessons when you buy this starter set
- This is the perfect set for someone who’s never picked up a guitar and also more experienced players
- It’s beautifully crafted with a natural top, mahogany stained back and sides and rosewood fingerboard
What we don't love:
- Previous buyers say it needs to be tuned when it arrives
- Some say the fret are sharp
- Some have noted a buzzing sound when they play
Gift ideas for athletic boys
Archery Set
What could be a better present for a 13-year-old than getting outside with his very own archery set? This compound bow set is perfect for the beginner, and the quad-limb bow is super lightweight. The bow comes with target arrows, finger rollers and an adjustable pin sight.
What we love:
- The bow is excellent quality and can shoot targets up to approximately 20 yards away
- The bow has an ambidextrous reinforced handle and a soft-touch grip
- It’s very sturdy and can easily be used for several years
What we don't love:
- Using the bow requires some strength
- Previous buyers say the feathers tend to fall off the arrows
- The arrow rest has been described as mediocre
Quest Bamboo Longboard Skateboard
Give your boy the gift of mobility with this 44-inch artisan longboard. It’s a great option for beginners and rides very smooth.
This is the perfect vehicle for getting around and most customers agree that it’s an awesome buy for the price. The Quest is also considered one of the top five cruisers around.
What we love:
- It’s easy to maneuver, despite its large size
- It’s extremely sturdy and unlikely to get dinged up from regular use
- It’s made of bamboo and maple and has eye-catching original graphics
What we don't love:
- The board is big, and some users say it’s slightly heavy and awkward to carry around
- Some buyers have described the bearings as being of inferior quality
- The board will rust if left out in the rain
For the teen who loves board games
The Settlers of Catan
This board game is fun, engaging, and requires a bit of strategy. Players must collect resources, such as brick, lumber and wool, and then use them to build roads, settlements and cities. It keeps first-time players busy and seasoned players on their toes, and it was recognized as the best-selling game of the year in the US. What's more, board games have lots of benefits for kids! Read about some of them here.
What we love:
- The board is variable, so the game is different every single time
- It requires strategy but also luck, which makes the game interesting
- There’s lots of interaction as players must trade and barter, and it helps to fine-tune negotiation skills
What we don't love:
- The game requires three or four players
- Some say that the board, which is made up of hexagon tiles, is hard to fit together
- “May teach teens and children unrealistic economic theories that will eventually doom this planet”, according to a previous buyer
Smash Up Game
Is there any other game on the market that involves aliens, zombies, dinosaurs, robots and ninjas? We’re going to go ahead and say no… This board game is unique, a lot of fun and easy to pick up!
What we love:
- The company provides excellent customer service
- Expansions are available
- It includes several decks which can be combined in countless ways, providing for lots of variety
What we don't love:
- Some customers say the rules of slightly ambiguous, with no guidelines for certain eventualities
- There’s no real player-to-player interaction
- There’s a lot of reading involved, which slows down the pace of the game
Pandemic Board Game
This is an awesome board game with a twist: the players have to work together to save mankind, and either everyone wins, or everyone loses. Four diseases have broken out, and the specialists must strategize and work together to find a solution.
What we love:
- As it is cooperative in nature, it encourages teamwork and prevents hurt feelings and competitiveness
- It can be played with just 2 people
- The pieces are very high quality
What we don't love:
- There are many small pieces to keep track of
- Previous buyers say it is slightly complex and must be played a few times to get the hang of it
- It may get repetitive after heavy use and doesn’t have as much “replayablity value” as other games
Perfect gifts for the gamer
Gaming Chair with Audio
If you’re looking for the perfect gaming accessory, then you’re looking for this gaming chair. It has two forward-facing speakers, a headphone jack and a powerful subwoofer, not to mention a side control panel with volume and bass control. And perhaps most importantly, it’s ergonomic and comfortable, especially for someone that’s going to be playing games for several hours on end.
What we love:
- It is light and easy to carry and fold in half for convenient storage
- It comes with several different wires, so you can connect to almost anything straight away
- The sound is excellent—for games, music, and movies!
What we don't love:
- Although it’s comfortable, it may not be after several hours of use
- Some previous buyers say that customer service could be better
- The chair could use more padding
Customizable Gaming Mouse
Help the gamer in your life step up his game with a gaming mouse that is sure to rock his world.
This badboy has 11 programmable buttons, giving him the ability to execute any command at the speed of light, and on-the-fly DPI, so he can switch through 5 DPI settings super fast.
What we love:
- The scroll wheel gives it enhanced click-to-click precision for gaming
- It is ridiculously customizable
- It offers surface tuning calibration as well as weight and balance tuning
What we don't love:
- Previous buyers say the mouse feet are likely to come loose or shift on cloth surfaces
- It takes some time to get used to the metal scroll wheel
- It’s quite narrow, and won’t suit teens with very large hands
Wireless Gaming Headset with Surround Sound
This stellar set of headphones has a super quick lag-free wireless connection, and its surround sounds puts you right in the middle of the action, so much so that you can hear your opponents before they see you! It works for up to 10 hours between charges and players can control in-game elements with a single touch.
What we love:
- It has a noise-cancelling mic that picks up only the user’s voice
- It has a memory foam headband and cushioned ear pads, making it one of the most comfortable headsets around
- It’s got customizable on-ear audio command keys
What we don't love:
- It requires the installation of special Logitech software which is not compatible with some computers
- Previous buyers say the sound is somewhat hollow
- Some previous buyers have had some connection issues
PlayStation Vita - Wifi
The 13-year-old in your life may love to play video games from the comfort of his parent’s living room, or his bedroom, but there’s nothing cooler than taking your PlayStation with you. That’s what the Vita does—complete with a 5-inch OLED touch screen, dual analog sticks offering precision control, and front and back cameras.
What we love:
- There are more than 900 games available, and the library is growing
- The screen is high-resolution and quite large
- It has tremendous multimedia potential, i.e. you can transfer music and videos
What we don't love:
- You have to buy a memory card separately
- Given its size, it doesn’t fit well in your pocket
- Previous buyers have said that battery life is mediocre
Gifts for future engineers and scientists
Extreme Electronics Discovery Kit
The Snap Circuits series of kits is no stranger to awards, from the Creative Child - Toy of the Year to Dr. Toy’s 10 Most Educational Products. That means that this is the perfect kit for the budding engineer at your house. Watch your child build an am radio, a rechargeable battery, a sound-activated switch and a lie detector. He’ll also learn his way around a power amplifier, a variable capacitor and an analog meter.
What we love:
- The lessons start out simple and then become more complex, promising to continually challenge him
- This kit contains more than 750 different electronic projects
- It is both entertaining and educational
What we don't love:
- Some buyers have said that the projects are organized haphazardly
- The instruction manual could be improved
- A previous buyer said that kids build the circuits, but still don’t have an understanding of how they work
A Biological Compound Microscope
Looking for an outstanding quality microscope for your future scientist? Look no further. This option offers tons of bang for your buck, and comes with LED illumination, full optical glass elements, five magnification settings and a 360 degree rotatable monocular head.
What we love:
- This is the perfect microscope for learning about science
- It's sturdy and very well made
- No assembly required, and it comes with it’s own travel bag
What we don't love:
- Slides must be purchased separately
- It does not include ideas for experiments
- A previous buyer says customer support could be better
Well we hope you found this article useful. Even if you didn’t find something on our list of the best gifts for 13-year-old boys, we hope it helped get the creative juices flowing. If you have an idea we can add to our list or if you’ve had success with a certain toy or product, we’d love to hear about it! Shoot us a message on the contact page.
