The 25 Best Valentine’s Day Gifts for Him (2024)

If you don’t think sweatshorts are fetching, then you must not have seen your man swishing around in a pair from Chubbies. (Yes, we agree the name is unfortunate.) The excellent fabric (a cotton-and-polyester blend) launders without fading or pilling. And the dudes we love have raved about the finished drawstring waist and pockets deep enough to hold a sandwich. We like the version with the 5½-inch inseam (this pair also comes in a 7-inch crop), as well as the range of great colors.

Give music lovers a thrill each month with a subscription to Vinyl Me Please Records of the Month. The company selects and presses a record for each of its genres: hip-hop, country, classics, essentials, and rock. These are not the as-seen-on-TV compilation albums of yore; instead, they’re new pressings of records that have either never seen vinyl or haven’t seen it in a long time. Recent selections include John Prine’s Sweet Revenge, Run-D.M.C.’s Tougher Than Leather, and Wynton Marsalis’s Black Codes. Choose subscriptions running from three months to a year. Depending on the level, each subscription comes with a bonus of one to eight records.

If your guy already has a watch he loves, he may enjoy a bit more wrist candy. The classic Mejuri Curb Chain Bracelet is made of 92.5% pure sterling silver (it also comes in titanium or black titanium). This bracelet is 5½ millimeters thick, so it feels weighty but not too cumbersome, and it has a slinky, snaky feel. If he’s more of a neck-chain guy, we also like the matching Curb Chain Necklace.

Paka Apparel’s Hoodies are knitted from royal alpaca wool and recycled nylon, and they are hand-signed by the women who make them in Cusco, Peru. This soft unisex pullover is lightweight yet warm and cashmere-like, with reinforced seams. Most importantly, though, your purchase supports craftswomen, and your guy will get a rugged, cozy hoodie that’s outdoorsy without being frumpy. Also, unlike some wool hoodies, this one causes zero itching—staff writer Samantha Schoech’s husband wore it sans undershirt just to make sure. The hand-wash, dry-flat care mandate is a little laborious, but because wool is naturally stain- and odor-repellent, this is an infrequent chore.

Whatever you do, don’t frame it as a sex lesson. The videos on OMGYes are absolutely intended to be instructional. But the approach is so playful, human, and (NSFW warning) graphic that they function more like foreplay than tutorials. Focused on female pleasure, OMG Yes uses scientific research to design videos for people with vaginas to use alone or for couples to explore together. These videos somehow manage to bridge the gap between clinical and sexy, and they discuss and demonstrate things like multiple orgasms and healthy sexual communication, as well as specific techniques like hinting, layering, orbiting, and levering. Once your guy has a subscription, he can go back to the 60-plus videos for study sessions as many times as he wants. Access to over 300 videos is about $25 more.

Nothing says “I love you, I accept you, I want to lounge with you” quite like the comfiest sweatpants we’ve tested, Uniqlo’s Sweatpants. Recently redesigned but still beloved, the sweatpants check all of the design boxes, including three roomy pockets, cuffed ankles, and an interior drawstring. And they’re made from a thick cotton that holds up well to both washing and wearing. These sweats exude a low-key polish that’s fresh enough for Gen Z wearers. If your man was born before the days of dial-up—and his current sweats are of that vintage—this pair will be a cool upgrade.

Your sweetie needn’t be an avowed adult fan of Lego (AFOL) to appreciate the meditative pleasure—and hydration-free maintenance—required to assemble and care for a family of Lego Succulents. Wirecutter supervising editor Joshua Lyon is a certified AFOL, though, and he found this set of nine plants both satisfying to build and pleasing to live alongside. Use the included pegs to clip the faux flora together or display them individually. Either way, as Joshua sees it, the 771-piece build is challenging enough for Lego fans. And it’s also more suited to adult relationships and peaceful cohabitation than, say, his 3,187-piece Star Wars Mos Eisley Cantina.

Great gifts will delight the recipients. Even better, though, are gifts that can please the giver, too. Such is the case with the Saxx Ultra Super Soft Boxer Briefs, a loose and breathable variant of our top-pick boxer briefs. Made from a lighter, thinner viscose fabric than the Saxx DropTemp Cooling Cotton frontrunner, these briefs hug the right stuff in the right ways. Most notable in the Saxx design is the signature BallPark Pouch, a clever internal pocket that cups the goods, preventing fidgety adjustments and irritating chafing.

If the man you love appreciates coffee, gadgets, or efficiency—or, better yet, all three—the Nespresso Essenza Mini by De’Longhi is a wonderful gift. Our resident staff coffee snobs/experts tested hundreds of espresso makers. And they found that this mighty little machine brews up beverages that are every bit as tasty as those made in models costing hundreds more. This brewer is easy to clean, it doesn’t hog counter space, and it can whip up the same one-touch ristrettos, espressos, and lungos as fancier (and pricier) Nespresso machines can. Do him a solid and give this machine alongside some extra pods and a few recycling bags.

According to associate staff writer Ellen Airhart, “A heart-shaped plant is the perfect way to communicate to your valentine that your love will grow.” This particular species, Hoya kerrii, grows pretty slowly, but it can tolerate a range of light and infrequent watering. It’s a nice way to add green to someone’s home without adding chores to their to-do list, plus it’s lovely and romantic but not corny. Most reviewers rave about the company’s sturdy packaging and happy plants. But if your guy’s gift is diminutive or arrives battered, or if it fades too quickly, the Plants.com customer warranty guarantees your purchase for 30 days.

A bulging wallet isn’t the look, and if that’s what your beloved is working with, it’s time to help a guy out. For something more pared-down, try the Dun Wallet, one of our favorites from testing. It’s the thinnest model we found—the design is simply a single-ply slice of leather outfitted with a triangular overlay for bills—and the stretchy slots make loading and retrieving cards easy. Once the Dun is fully loaded (with license, cash, and credit, debit, and insurance cards), it’s barely over half an inch thick, and it’s entirely inconspicuous in all manner of slim-fitting pants.

For a garment as comfortable as a hoodie but with a bit more sartorial consideration, Naadam The Original Cashmere Sweater Men’s is a great gift. During our testing we were happy to discover that, despite its reasonable price, this sweater felt luxuriously soft. It comes in 19 colors and a wide range of sizes, so it will suit just about everyone you could be shopping for. Plus, thanks to its somewhat fitted shape and light material, your loved one’s body won’t be hidden under boxy fabric.

Azul didn’t quite make the list of our favorite board games for adults, but it does land a spot on our gift list because it’s such a mellow, aesthetically pleasing game for two. This game is relatively simple to learn, unlike some duskier, fantasy-oriented options. In Azul, you and your partner play as artisans decorating the walls of a palace, and you earn points by placing pieces, inspired by Portuguese tile, into strategic orders. The strategy takes a while to master, so Azul is the perfect game for an afternoon spent at home.

Licorice can be a polarizing confection, but the Lakrids by Bülow Love Selection Box will help convert even the sweetest skeptic. No one does licorice better than the Scandinavians, in particular the Danish confectioner Johan Bülow. The licorice in this set is perfectly chewy and intensely herbal, and it’s covered in seven different sweet coatings (including dark chocolate, salty caramel, milk chocolate, and cinnamon caramel). The heart-shaped box ships for free and is festive but not gaudy.

Whether your guy is a commuter who can’t leave home without a book, a water bottle, and two snack options or a globe-trotter looking to travel light, a cute and comfortable backpack will make the journey more enjoyable. The July Carry All Backpack Series 2is one of our picks because it looks sleek and polished yet offers a lot of the functionality we love in a backpack (such as zipper pockets for a laptop, water bottle, and passport). It slides easily and securely over a rollerbag’s handle, and it has comfy-enough padded shoulder straps. Plus, it’s sturdy and water-resistant, has a 20-liter capacity, and comes with a five-year warranty.

Real men wear lip balm—or, more specifically, they deserve to have lips that feel hydrated and smooth (especially if you’ll be kissing them). Wirecutter tested 22 different lip balms, and Lucas’ Papaw Ointment ranks among our favorites. Plus, in addition to using this untinted, unscented balm to moisturize lips, many people also rub it on sunburns, cracked skin, and mosquito bites.

A white T-shirt is a sartorial blank slate, making it equally perfect for the man in your life who lives in sweatpants or the fashion maven who wants to showcase their accessories. Wirecutter’s style team researched and tested dozens of white T-shirts, and the J.Crew Broken-In Short-Sleeve was a favorite. It fit most of our testers, was well constructed, and felt light and comfortable to wear.

Help your man up his grill game with a little inspiration in the form of an asada, which refers both to a Mexican-style backyard barbecue and to the grilled meats served at said parties. Asada: The Art of Mexican-Style Grilling provides a joyful education in ingredients and culture. And it explains handy traditions, like the surprising benefits of cleaning the grill with an onion (allicin, a compound found in raw alliums, is highly antimicrobial). Plus, it offers 100 recipes for asadas, apps, seafood dishes, side dishes, veggies, salsas, aguas frescas, cocktails, and desserts. Put on some Jenny and the Mexicats, and he’s got himself a fiesta.

On Valentine’s Day, chocolates are fine, but ice cream is a far more unexpected treat. In particular, send Jeni’s Best Sellers Collection, from this hyper-popular (and woman-owned) company in Ohio. This bundle includes five pints, with flavors such as Brambleberry Crisp and Salty Caramel (and there are even some lactose-free options, for the dairy-abstaining lovers out there). The extra-creamy consistency and unusual flavors warrant the shipping costs.

Customized gifts are always the best kind. And though the items in this gift don’t feature monograms or birthstones, they are personalized where it matters most. With 60 different size options based on length and circumference measurements, myOne Perfect Fit condoms ranked among our favorites in the tests we conducted for our condoms guide.

Streaming music on a phone or smart speaker is convenient, but there’s not much ritual in solo scrolling to find your favorite album. As Wirecutter’s Chris Heinonen pointed out, “Playing records helps make listening to music an activity you actively do together.” For that, we recommend the U-Turn Orbit Basic Turntable, a great starter turntable that comes with everything one needs to begin listening to vinyl. To make the gift extra-special, include a few favorite albums.

If your valentine hates waking up to the aggressive sound of their phone alarm, deliver a more mellow wake-up experience—with the Philips SmartSleep Wake-Up Light HF3520, Wirecutter’s current sunrise alarm clock pick. Over 30 minutes, this clock gradually increases in brightness, from a dim glow to the brilliance of a spring day.

The movie lover you adore will be delighted to receive a subscription to The Criterion Channel, which streams hundreds of carefully curated classic and contemporary titles from around the globe. There are many ways to stream movies, and your loved one probably has access to some of them. But Criterion categorizes its selections in notably clever ways—including double features paired with expert commentary, movies directed by women, and films focused on Black characters. Just add some popcorn, and you have the perfect date-night activity.

Dorie Chevlen contributed reporting. This guide was edited by Hannah Morrill and Jennifer Hunter.