Father's Day is less than a week away, which means you can either get out there and find a great gift this week, buy something online right now, or wait and get him yet another tie. For people who want to spare Dad the extra neckwear, and are interested in option two for the convenience, check out this rundown of five great Father's Day gadget gift ideas. And don't worry, we've got something for any type of Dad.
The Dad Who Has a Smartphone, But Never Has it On Him
Some Dads have taken the plunge and bought a smartphone, and some younger or more tech savvy Dads have had one for a while. But not all are great at knowing where it is all the time. People are busy and lose track of things; it's understandable. But now you can help. Get Dad the Proximo key fob alarm system by Kensington. Proximo is a Bluetooth-enabled app that comes with a key fob and a "tag" in the basic kit. The app is a pretty basic, and a handy concept. You can set a proximity alarm for your smartphone at a custom distance, so that as soon as you get further away than that distance from your phone, your key fob will alert you to the fact that you're about to leave your smartphone behind. It's great for Dads who might leave the phone in the house on the way out, but it'll help protect against loss or theft everywhere else, too. The tag that it comes with also works with the app to help keep track of other valuables, and you can buy more tags if he's forgetful of more that a couple things. The starter kit costs $60, but, unfortunately it's only available for iPhones right now.
The Fitness Dad
For Dads that keep fit, or want to get back into shape, the Fitbit Flex is a great fitness tracker that works with smartphones to track not only workouts, but also your entire day's activities. It's small enough that it won't become the center of attention, and water resistant, so your Dad doesn't have to constantly worry about breaking his new gadget. With a smartphone or computer, he can set up personal fitness goals for the smartband to track. It's got discreet little LED lights that, with the tap of the Flex, will show how close to his daily goal he is. And it tracks his sleep and has a silent vibrating alarm for those extra early mornings. It costs $99 and works with PC and Mac, and for mobile, iOS and newer Samsung Galaxy devices.
The Cost / Environmentally Conscious Dad
Show your Dad how much you listened when he said he wasn't going to pay to air condition the neighborhood by getting him the newest thing in thermostat technology. The Nest Learning Thermostat is the smartest of smart home heating and cooling devices. It builds a heating and cooling schedule automatically, "learning" what your preferences are, just by remembering typical settings, day-to-day, no more programming manuals and frustrating hours trying to make a thermostat schedule manually. After a couple weeks, it should be automatically heating and cooling the house, and it comes with other cool features, like Auto-Away, which turns down your settings when he walk out the door and an app that lets him change the settings if he's on his way back early. It costs $249, and can either be self-installed or done professionally, depending on your Dad's skill level. But that's your call.
The Consummate Grill Master
If your Dad is a grilling maniac and seems to have everything he needs for the perfectly cooked steak or rack of ribs, don't despair, chances are he doesn't have this. The Smoking Gun is a electric handheld food smoker that quickly adds smoked flavor to food on the grill, without the big box full of chips and the hours of warm up that come with traditional smoking methods. It's got a little blower that shoots the cool smoke into your dish after it's done cooking, for a quick addition of natural flavor to any dish. You can get traditional smokehouse flavors like hickory, mesquite, or apple, or try out their expanded collection of spices, dried flowers, and tea if your Dad's ready to up his grilling game into some odd culinary directions. The Smoking Gun costs $99, and comes with two sample jars of the classic flavors. Extra flavors cost about $25.
The Beer Drinker
This is a great gadget with a simple design that will help your Dad relax with a beer, even if the six-pack hasn't had time to cool down yet. The stainless steel beer insert sits in the freezer until you need to chill down some beer. Just pop open a standard beer bottle, place the frozen Chillsner into neck (after taking a sip to prevent beer overflow), and drink your instantly-cooled beer through the Chillsner's opening. The Chillsner is on its way this month for $29, but you can download a "coming soon" card in case it doesn't quite make it for Father's Day. If your Dad is more interested in wine, they make a similar device called the "Corkcicle" for $25, that is available now.