Best Gifts for 13-Year-Old Boys – 19 Ideas

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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
  

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

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

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
  

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
  

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

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

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

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