15 of the best gifts for men this Valentine's day, including last minute present ideas
“What is the best gift for a man?” must be one of the hardest questions ever asked. Scientists have been studying it for centuries and the best they've come up with is, "not socks". Which is useful, up to a point. Valentine's Day gifts for husbands or boyfriends bring an extra level of complication. Men aren't traditionally impressed by flowers, chocolates or the other things we associate with February 14. The best Valentine's Day gifts for men are a little smarter than that.
It helps to remember that the whole point of buying a Valentine's Day present for a man – as with Valentine's gifts for women – is to show not just that you love him but why you love him. If you appreciate the way your husband or boyfriend cooks, his skills in the garden, his love of music or his sense of adventure, you can show him with the right choice of present. We've found 15 ideas that should cover all those bases – but if you're in a rush, here's a quick look at the key five:
The best Valentine's Day gifts for men, at a glance
Best unique gift for men – Personalised Airpod Case
Best luxury gift for men – Clase Azul Reposado Tequila
Best tech gift for men – Fitbit Versa 4
Best gift for older men – Personalised Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Best fitness gift for men – Theragun Mini
How much should you spend on a Valentine's Day gift?
Naturally it depends on your budget, which is why we've divided the gift ideas below into price bands. All are available online. Where next-day delivery is available, we've marked it below to help you find the best last-minute gifts. The others may take a little longer to arrive.
From personalised gifts to crowdpleasing comestibles, one of these should make a man feel loved, valued and proud to have such a thoughtful gift-giver in his life. Don't forget to remind him of that on Valentine's Day.
Best gifts for men under £50
1. Not Another Bill Personalised Airpod Case
Best personalised gift for men
Express delivery (2-3 days) available for £8.95
Airpods are a status accessory, more so than wallets or shoes these days. Which means this will go with him everywhere, reminding him how thoughtful you are roughly 150 times a day.
£32
Price at
Not Another Bill
2. Car scent diffuser
Best gift for drivers
Next day delivery available for £7.95
Impeccably masculine, this matt aluminium stick hooks on to the air conditioning vent and can be filled with any fragrance or essential oil.
£15
Price at
The White Company
3. "Especially for him" gift box
Best experience gift for men
Instant delivery via e-voucher, next day postal delivery available for £8.50
When surveyed about the gifts they really want, men reliably rate experiences over things. Red Letter Days base their whole existence on this. Their man-centric vouchers start at £49.99 for experiences like supercar and speedboat rides, go-karting, bungee jumping... actually, best buy one for yourself too.
£63
Price at
Red Letter Days
Best Valentines gifts for men under £100
4. Personalised Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky
From £59.95, The Whisky Exchange
Best gift for older men
Express delivery (2-3 days) available for £6.95 or free click-and-collect same day in four London outlets
There are six personalisable single malts at The Whisky Exchange, ranging from this Highland Special Reserve to a 30 year-old single grain Lowland (£200), of which only 200 bottles are being made. Choose the label, have it engraved with the lucky man's name, and he'll have a whisky he can show off as well as savour.
£60
Price at
The Whisky Exchange
5. Dining for two experience
Best Valentines dinner gift for men
Instant delivery via e-voucher, next day postal delivery available for £8.50
Men love to be given experiences, as mentioned above, and a special meal is right up there with Ferrari-driving (well, nearly). This BuyAGift voucher offers a choice of 725 dinners, lunches and afternoon teas for two around the country. Step up a level to the Award-Winning Dining Experience Box (£150) and he gets to choose restaurants with Michelin stars, two AA rosettes or other prestigious culinary awards.
£75
Price at
BuyAGift
6. Van Hunks MCC Brut and Brut Rosé gift box
Best sparkling wine gift for men
Express delivery (2-3 days) available for £6.95
We all know you can't call it champagne if it's not made in Champagne, but the méthode cap classique used by South African vineyard Van Hunks is exactly the same. So he'll get two bottles of excellent mousse in a wooden box, with a pipe-smoking dude on the label. And it's called Van Hunks. What man wouldn't love that? (Single bottles are available on Amazon too.)
£60
Price at
Not On The High Street
7. Luxury date night cheese and bubbly hamper
Best hamper gift for men
Free delivery in 1-3 days
Cheese is chocolate for men, in case you hadn't heard. Snowdonia Cheese, famous for their Black Bomber mature cheddar, have put together this date night hamper to show that you adore his cheese-loving ways. He'll get truckles of Black Bomber and Red Storm, a rhubarb and gin chutney, buttermilk crackers, sea salt caramel pearls, a Welsh slate serving board and a 75cl bottle of Ca' Morlin Prosecco. The perfect Valentine's evening – for him, anyway.
£65
Price at
Snowdonia Cheese
8. Decanter, aerator and cleaning balls set
Best wine lover's gift for men
Next or named day delivery available for £7.50
And since we're talking cheese and wine, how about a decanter so he can show he's a proper connoisseur? Riedel are the big name, but with prices to match, and for our money this set from Le Creuset has everything he'll need, including an aerating fountain which goes in the neck as you pour the wine in and (not pictured here, but very useful) a set of cleaning balls to restore it to crystal cleanliness.
£60
Price at
John Lewis
9. Champagne masterclass
£95 per person, Searcys at St. Pancras
Best tasting experience for men
Instant delivery by e-voucher. Masterclasses happen once a month
If you know men, you know they like to be experts in the stuff they enjoy. And that definitely goes for champagne. Searcy's hold champagne masterclasses all year in a special private room at their St Pancras brasserie in London, with a three-course meal to help the learning go down. For Valentine's Day you'll want to book the February 15 masterclass. But they'll also be held on March 8, April 19, May 17, June 8, July 13, September 28, October 26 and November 9.
£95
Price at
Searcys at St Pancras
Best luxury Valentines gifts for men
10. Theragun mini
Best fitness gift for men
Next or named day delivery available for £7.50
It might come as a surprise to some, but these vibrating post-workout muscle-pummelers are the must-have gadget of 2023. Whereas the full-sized Theragun Pro (£469) is too expensive for most wish lists, this six-inch model is a touch more affordable and still has everything he needs to beat cramps, knots and tension: a quiet motor, 150 minute battery life, three speed settings and 15mm of travel. We rated it highly in our review of the best massage guns this year.
£155
Price at
John Lewis
11. Fitbit Versa 4
Best technology gift for men
Next or named day delivery available for £7.50
Continuing a theme (clearly today's men are healthier than the whisky-supping dads of yesterday), the second most-wanted gift of 2023 is the latest fitness tracker from Fitbit. Again, it's not exactly cheap – but it does combine the functions of a very nice watch with heart rate and sleep trackers, built-in GPS, on-screen fitness coaching and voice assistants (choose Google or Amazon) which allow you to check the weather, set reminders or get on-screen answers to questions. The battery lasts six days. We rate it one of the top three best fitness trackers available.
£200
Price at
John Lewis
12. Sony WF-1000XM4 noise cancelling in-ear headphones
Best music gift for men
Next or named day delivery available for £7.50
There's no getting around it, these are pretty pricey for a Valentine's gift. But phones are the centre of our lives now and good bluetooth in-ear headphones are a must. These are the best available, according to our reviewer Rob Waugh. He said: "The sound quality is so incredible that they almost belong in a category of their own. For any music fan who can stretch to this price, these are an incredible audio treat and worth every penny." Anyone receiving them will be a very lucky man.
£199
Price at
John Lewis
13. Clase Azul Reposado Tequila 70cl
Best luxury gift for men
Next or named day delivery available for £6.95
If you've been in a classy Mexican restaurant you'll have seen this tall, hand-painted ceramic carafe behind the bar, up on the top shelf where they keep the good stuff. It's one of the finest tequilas you can get, aged for a minimum of eight months before bottling in the small Mexican town of Santa Maria Canchesda. It's a very expensive gift, true, but he gets to keep the carafe as a symbol of his good taste and worldliness. (And your generosity.)
£210
Price at
The Whisky Exchange
14. Lenco wooden turntable
Best gift for a record collector
Free delivery in 2-5 working days
Did you know vinyl is now outselling CDs again? Any man serious about music has started collecting records and will need something to play them on. This belt-driven turntable from Swiss audio specialists Lenco is a stirling choice. It looks great, finished in 1970s-style natural wood, but the killer app are its built-in speakers: not only will it fit snugly on a shelf but you can use it as a bluetooth speaker to play music from your phone or other devices. Modern meets traditional. Which is what men usually want.
£110
Price at
HMV
15. Apple iPad 64GB
Best Apple gift
Next-day delivery available with Amazon Prime
Now we are in the realms of fantasy: has he really been good enough to deserve a £335 iPad as a gift? But if you actually ask men what they want, the latest iPad is consistently up there – and this is the most affordable. The 9th-generation 64GB iPad has a 10.2-inch screen, ultra-wide front camera, super-sharp Retina display and the latest A13 Bionic chip, enough to power the most demanding apps. Buy him this for Valentine's Day and he will love you forever. Seems like a fair deal?
£335
Price at
Amazon
