25 Last-Minute Deals on Father’s Day Gifts (2023)
Forget the tie. We’ve got you covered with dozens of WIRED-tested favorites….
Father’s Day is June 18, and it’s descending upon us fast—if you haven’t got something for Dad, time is running out. But don’t panic just yet! There’s plenty of good stuff on sale right now, from kitchen tools and smartwatches to the fuel of life: coffee. We’ve curated a list of potential presents on sale right now, but you should act quickly.
Looking for more gift ideas? Read our Father’s Day Gift Ideas guide, and don’t forget to check our Mother’s Day Gifts for some more inspiration.
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Coffee and Kitchen Deals
As you’ll see in our Best Coffee Grinders guide, this is our favorite budget option. It has a relatively slim profile that won’t hog counter space, and its conical burr grinder is a preferred mechanism for getting the most consistent grind out of your whole beans. There are 15 settings, which is more than enough for everything from ultrafine-ground espresso to coarse French press. After daily use for a year, it’s still holding up beautifully.
If Dad’s getting really into coffee, it might be worth upgrading the at-home grinder to one with a built-in scale. Dad can set the grind size, choose the weight, and let the grinder do its thing. It otherwise has a similar design to the Oxo above, with a conical burr grinder, but there are now 38(!) settings.
There are high-tech coffee gadgets and then there are low-tech coffee gadgets; the Hario Slim Plus is one of the latter. It’s lightweight and safe to toss into a bag, so Dad can bring it with him to the park or to the office and manually grind his whole beans to get the perfect brew anywhere.
Good coffee is fussy. I’m sorry, but as one of WIRED’s many (many, many) resident coffee snobs, I know it takes a little time and energy to get a good cup of brew going in the morning, whether it’s French press or pour-over. For dads no longer on speaking terms with Mr. Coffee, the easiest way to get a tasty, balanced, less-bitter cup is to use an AeroPress. We were happy enough with the finished cup of Joe that we named it one of our favorite coffee makers.
Trade is offering a free bag for new subscribers, and if you choose a three- or four-bag subscription, you can get an extra $5 off your order. We called Trade the best overall coffee subscription among those we tested. Even though I wasn’t an official tester, I’ve been a customer of Trade for three years, and the wide variety of nearly universally delicious brews has impressed me beyond my innate skepticism. As Dad ships, sips, and rates more and more coffees, the site will get better at predicting and suggesting successive bags he might like.
You’ll need to enter your email address to see the deals. All-Clad is known for two things: high quality and high price. The All-Clad Factory Seconds sales event makes this aspirational kitchenware a little more accessible, though there is a catch. These are products with small blemishes, from a dented box to a missing logo. They’re all still functional and covered by All-Clad’s warranty. If you need help picking out specific pieces, check out our stand-alone All-Clad sales roundup for recommendations.
If Dad loves to blend in the morning and you want to splurge on him, then you’re in luck. Breville’s Super Q is on sale, and we called it the “fancy car of the blender category.” It has a few presets, a Smoothie button, and a cup Dad can blend in and drink from.
This is the top pick in our Best Air Fryers guide. It cooks fries with up to 75 percent less fat than a traditional deep fryer (wowza!). It comes with 12 functions, from searing and steaming to a sous-vide setting. Dad can use the included recipe booklet for inspiration.
This is another air fryer we tested and like. It has the same capacity as the Ninja above, but there’s a handy window that lets Dad keep an eye on the food without having to pull out the drawer. There are six cooking modes, including roast, broil, and dehydrate.
Travel and Luggage Deals
So Dad loves a good book to pass the time during his travels, but you never know quite which book to buy him. Eight gigabytes might not sound like a lot of storage, but that’s enough to hold thousands of books in the Kindle Paperwhite (8/10, WIRED Recommends), all in a package slimmer than a paperback. The glare-resistant E Ink display will be easier on his eyes than a typical tablet.
Arguably the best value in softside luggage, Travelpro makes two of my favorite all-around recommendations, the Maxlite 5 Rollaboard Carry-On for $145 ($25 off) and the Crew VersaPack Max Rollaboard Carry-On for $230 ($40 off). I gave them both top marks in my Best Travel Bags guide, thanks to their impressive durability and well-thought-out organization. Tell Dad to pack up and get out (to vacation) with one of these carry-on suitcases.
We liked it in our Best Travel Bags guide at $400, but we like it a whole lot more on sale for less than half that. It has a durable hard outer shell, an interior fabric made from 100 percent recycled plastic bottles, and a WetPak storage pocket to keep damp items separated from the rest of Dad’s belongings inside.
Fancy something, well, fancier for ol’ Dad? Away suitcases are my recommendation for a luxury bag. Far cheaper than Rimowa, the Away bag is still a pricey purchase, but it’s built to last, especially the aluminum model. Inside the clamshell design there’s a clever organization system. These bags will pick up dents and scratches as they pass through the Mad Maxian airport system if Dad checks his bags, but like fine denim and leather jackets, that’s a part of aluminum’s charm. Remember, when it costs enough, “wear and tear” is spelled “patina.”
How about a gift for practical dads? Ironing clothes is a pain when you’re on the move. Not every hotel room has them, and even if he finds one in his room, it’ll most likely be a cheap iron. Dad can forget wrestling the ironing board and de-wrinkle his clothes in a minute or less with this compact travel steamer. The water reservoir needs to be refilled after every one or two garments, but it’s not hard to use. I’ve used one for years with no issues.
AirTags can be a boon for stalkers, so it’s important to be cautious and learn how to find out if you’re being tracked by one of them. Still, they’re helpful for keeping an eye on your luggage as it passes through the airport system. If Pop ever lets out a little gasp of fear as he hands over his bags at the check-in counter, these might alleviate some of his anxiety over lost bags.
Tech Deals
The Google Pixel 7 (8/10, WIRED Recommends) wowed us with some of the most useful and intuitive software of any smartphone on the market, its high-quality cameras, and its day-long battery life. A pledge by Google to provide security updates for five years means Dad won’t have to upgrade for a while. The Pro model is also on sale and it has an excellent 5X optical zoom camera.
We recommend Vizio’s M-Series (9/10, WIRED Recommends) because it can fill an entire room with such good sound for hundreds less than the competition. We like it enough at its MSRP, and now, with a hefty discount, it’s even more of a no-brainer for good sound on the cheap. With a pair of wireless rear speakers and a subwoofer, it’s a drastic improvement over a TV’s built-in speakers.
What’s an action camera, you say? A video camera Dad can mount to a helmet, handlebar, drone, or pretty much anything he can think of that a person could define as adventurous. We raved about the Hero11 (9/10, WIRED Recommends) because of its sweet new shooting modes, such as Star Trails and Vehicle Light Trails, and the quality of its (up to) 5.3K resolution at 60 frames per second or 4K resolution at 120 frames per second.
For true audiophile fathers, the WH-1000XM5 (9/10, WIRED Recommends) is our top recommendation. We said they have an “accomplished sound in pretty much every respect” and that rich, full sound comes in a rather comfortable, lightweight package. Even though it generates a fair amount of heat, it’s not enough to put us off the fantastic-sounding WH-100 … oh heck, I’m not typing all that out again.
More goes into a good workout pair of earbuds than just sound quality. Even though the Elite 7 Actives sound great, and their active noise cancellation works well to block out unwanted sounds, it’s the comfy yet secure fit around the ears that led us to name them the best workout pair in our guide to the Best Earbuds.
Photograph: Garmin
We reviewed the pricier Fenix 7S Sapphire Solar (8/10, WIRED Recommends) and liked its features. We just didn’t like its price. Now it’s on sale, and there’s a cheaper version that does away with the fancy Sapphire glass to save even more money. It’s still got the quick, accurate satellite connection and the wide range of programmable sport modes that made us fall in love.
Let Dad keep up with your texts and notifications with a watch that’s almost as smart as you are for thinking of him with just enough time left to shop before Father’s Day. The Pixel Watch (6/10, WIRED Reviews) got a mixed score because of the short battery life, cramped screen, and dated app, among other things. But we loved its looks and comfort. It lacks automatic workout detection but has since been updated with fall detection. Dad can also track his ECG and heart rate. It doesn’t work with iPhones.
Home Deals
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Photograph: Spyra
Don’t call it a Super Soaker. The Spyra shoots ultra-accurate bursts of water for a grown-up version of the kid classic. We’ve tested the manual pump non-electronic LX version and came up grinning as if we were kids again. Compared to Spyra’s electronic versions, the LX shoots just as accurately at a similar range. Plus, you can dunk this one in a lake or a pool. So watch your back if Dad decides to act out his Navy SEAL fantasies.
I gave the Casper top marks for its intuitive design in my guide to the Best Sunrise Alarms. What’s a sunrise alarm, you say? I a clock that uses light to mimic the natural sunrise and slowly wake you. It’s a much gentler way for Pop to rise and shine than a blaring alarm and the brash drawing back of the window curtains.
For a dad who hates vacuuming, point the Q5+ (9/10, WIRED Recommends) at him and motor away. Sure, the bin could be bigger and it could pack more suction power, but for the money, this mid-tier robot vacuum checks all the right boxes without driving you into the poor house. The app makes it easy to use, control, and set up schedules. It’s capable of discerning among various types of flooring and can map multiple rooms and floors. That’s why we call it the best overall robot vacuum.
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