37 Gifts for 16-Year-Old Boys

Saving his gaming time for weekends, a teen with a Nintendo Switch gets Super Mario Galaxy and its sequel together.

He plays through stages on a Saturday morning, then moves straight into the sequel once the original is finished. During spring break, he can clear a few stages each afternoon before heading out with friends.

A teen who plays guitar along to backing tracks in a friend's garage wants them loud enough to match his strumming.

At his age, jamming happens with friends more than alone in his bedroom, and the JBL Charge 6 travels along. His best take of the cover song ends up as a clip on a bandmate's phone.

If the teen you're shopping for often hosts friends, The Mind puts everyone on the same side instead of against each other.

A win belongs to the whole crew or to nobody, so no friend gets left on the losing end. He can bring the deck out before a movie starts, while everyone is sprawled across the basement couch.

This escape-room puzzle box from iDventure gives a teen a clue-by-clue challenge to crack open.

Friends can crowd around it on a weekend afternoon and trade guesses until the box opens.

This BENYAR wristwatch gives a teenage boy who now picks his own shirts and shoes an adult accessory to match them.

He already builds his look piece by piece, and a watch finishes it in a way his phone cannot. Before an awards banquet, he buckles it on, checks the dial and heads out the door.

Parkour lines through the city park are what a teen who trains with his friends wants to film from start to finish.

He works out each vault and landing with his crew, and watching a run back settles who cleared the rail. The DJI Osmo Action holds every attempt at the wall run until he picks one to post.

Quick brush marks on a Buddha Board give a teen who craves a break from ranked matches something unscored to do.

Competitive play keeps his mind on rank, so he wants a pastime where no image gets kept or judged. The rough shapes he draws stay his own, never posted, shared or graded by anyone.

When a new adventure title downloads to his PC, a teen who plays at his desk reaches for the 8Bitdo 2C. Plenty of what he plays is built around a handheld pad, so his setup gets one of its own.

His best boss run becomes a clip he shares with friends.

Sony IER-EX15C earbuds plug into a USB-C port, so a teen whose phone has one hears his playlist the moment he plugs in, with nothing to charge.

Nothing needs charging or pairing; just check that his phone has the matching port before you buy. The cord tucks under his hoodie on the bus ride home while the next track loads.

Before a match with his online friends, a teen who plays on his PC plugs in an Acer mouse meant for play.

Competitive titles fill his evenings now, and a pointer picked for them beats the bundled one from his tower. His longest win streak ends up on a sticky note taped beside the monitor.

The DJI Mic Mini is a noise-canceling clip-on microphone for a 16-year-old who makes videos with his phone.

He clips it to his shirt and talks to the camera. A noisy street stops drowning out his voice.

Sandisk's Optimus GX C50 card gives an Xbox owner with a crowded game library room to keep everything.

He rotates between several titles each week, so deleting an old favorite stops being part of his routine. After school, he slots the card in and starts the next download while his squad waits online.

Weekend pickup games are his thing, and the huupe Mini 1 gives him a gaming hoop indoors.

Rather than wait for an open court, he can shoot around between homework assignments. He plays video games as well, so this hoop ties his court habit to his gaming one.

Soundcore Q20i headphones answer a teen's complaint that the living room TV drowns out his voice chat during matches.

His friends meet up in online squads now, and noise canceling quiets the sitcom so every callout comes through. The Q20i then hangs from his desk lamp until the next squad invite pops up.

This drawing tablet lets a 16-year-old who doodles in every notebook move his sketches onto the screen.

He can paint characters or retouch photos with a pen in his usual software. It needs a computer or Android device, so check that he has one.

Polaroid Go Generation 3 turns a teen's road trip with his buddies into paper snapshots he can clip to the car visor.

He keeps a record of every outing with his crew, and a print puts that record in his hands.

The Xbox Series S moves a teenage boy's gaming off his phone and onto the TV.

He fills spare hours with phone games, so a console opens up titles built for television. On Saturday afternoons, a friend can drop by to trade turns with him on the couch.

For the boy on your list who chooses every piece of his desk himself, the MX Keys Mini takes the keyboard spot.

He treats his workspace as a project, so a board he picked outranks the stock one bundled with his computer. The script for his latest video gets typed out on it, start to finish.

This WD_Black NVMe drive adds storage inside a gaming PC or handheld; check that his machine takes the same drive size.

Installing it is a small hands-on job, so pick it if he is comfortable opening up his device. Once it is in, his next big release downloads straight onto it during a Saturday afternoon.

Sony's ULT Field 1 carries a teen's playlists from his bedroom to the skate park where his crew meets up.

He picks the songs for his friends these days, and a Bluetooth unit of his own takes them past earbuds. The playlist he builds for those sessions becomes the soundtrack behind every trick his friends film.

Hues and Cues pulls a crowd into the same round, right for a teen whose friends gather at his house.

Each pick comes down to whether a square looks olive or moss to each person, something players can argue over. After a home basketball win, he spreads it out on the kitchen table while the crew grabs snacks.

Late on a sleepover night, a teen who reads his friends' poker faces deals The Gang to the guys still awake.

Here his knack for sizing up a friend's hand pays off for the whole crew, since nobody wins unless everyone does.

With Liar's UNO, a poker-faced teenage boy gets the classic card game with bluffing built in.

His friends probably know the usual rules, so the contest is selling a fib or calling one. On a Friday night in the basement, he makes his boldest claim without cracking a smile.

Scrabble hands a word-savvy teenage boy a classic crossword game where vocabulary beats luck.

He plans each move around his letters and the openings his rivals leave on the board. After a holiday dinner, it comes out for any cousin sure they can outscore him.

This mini pool table gives a 16-year-old boy a way to play billiards on a desk or coffee table.

It comes with cues, balls and a triangle, so a rack starts right away. Friends can take turns between games.

The cold case at the center of this mystery game puts a teen who follows true crime podcasts in the detective's chair.

Rather than listen to a host lay out theories, he lines up each lead and picks the suspect himself. His notepad of crossed-off names ends up tucked inside the box for the next friend who wants a turn.

Carhartt's 2L Multi-Carry Waist bag hands a teenage cyclist a hip spot for his phone and keys.

He rides to school and on to practice, so his hands stay on the handlebars. Nothing bulky digs into his jeans pockets while he pedals.

The Oakley Tincan cap is a closed-back hat with a stretch fit, made for a 16-year-old boy who wears a cap daily.

He pulls it on with a hoodie before heading out.

Friday night games in the stands call for the Columbia Watch Cap, a simple beanie for a teenage boy.

He keeps his look low-key, so an understated hat goes with whatever jacket he grabs. Between quarters, he pulls it down over his ears and cheers on the team with his friends.

A teen who just started driving himself around town can keep a STANLEY IceFlow bottle as standard gear on every trip.

Now that he runs his own schedule, the things that ride along with him are his to choose. Before a late shift at the hardware store, he refills it at the kitchen sink and sets it on the passenger seat.

Grudge matches never end for a teen who hates losing to his friends, and this PRO-SPIN set brings the rematch home.

He wants winners settled on the spot, and the net just needs a kitchen table edge to hold onto. His win-loss record against each friend ends up scrawled on the whiteboard in his room.

The Spikeball Pro Kit is a roundnet set for a 16-year-old who wants a fast, active game with his crew.

Partners team up against another pair in a yard or at a park. The included backpack makes it easy to carry.

A cruiser skateboard from Retrospec's Quip line suits a teenage boy tired of waiting on rides.

He likes heading out on his own schedule, so the board covers short hops around the neighborhood. On Saturday afternoons, he rides it to the burger place where his friends meet.

Demon Slayer by Koyoharu Gotouge gives a teen manga fan the opening volume of a new series.

He can read it on the bus home from school. Later volumes can line up beside it on his shelf.

Unwind by Neal Shusterman gives a teen boy fond of dystopian fiction a novel to get absorbed in.

He can read it at night before bed. Later it can sit on his shelf beside his other sci-fi books.

Legend by Marie Lu gives a teen boy into dystopian stories a novel to read on his own.

He can finish it over a long weekend. Afterward, it is easy to pass to a friend at school.