Why You Can Trust CNET Best Mother's Day 2021 gifts under $50
Find something great for the mother figure in your life -- or, you know, your actual mom.
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Mother's Day is coming up fast: Sunday, May 9. The best news is that, this year, many of us will be able to safely give Mom a hug, which instantly makes this a huge improvement over Mother's Day 2020. With that done, however, you'll still want to give her a token of your appreciation.
No worries: CNET has a full list of ideas for Mother's Day gifts under $25 if you're looking for something small, or in the $51-to-$100 range if you have more to spend. You can also check out all of our favorite gifts for Mother's Day, or if you want to send Mom a beautiful bouquet of fresh flowers, check out our list of the best flower delivery services.
Can your budget stretch up to $50? Here are several gift ideas in that range, many of them fully reviewed or anecdotally tested by CNET editors.
Read more: Mother's Day cards you can buy online that are actually funny
If Mom already has a phone, why does she need a tablet? Simple: Maybe she wants to unplug from things like email, text messages and calendar reminders, and just kick back with a book, a Bridgerton binge or some bigger-screen TikTok.
The Fire 7 is a Cheapskate Hall of Fame winner because it delivers incredible bang for the buck. It normally sells for $50, but frequently goes on sale for $40 or even less. (You've got a bit of time left before Mother's Day, so watch for Amazon's next sale.)
Free some of Mom's best photos from her phone and turn them into memorable 8x8-inch tiles that can stick -- and re-stick -- just about anywhere.
I think Mixtiles make a really great gift, whether you order just a couple or a whole wall's worth. To help keep you under $50, use promo code CNET30OFFSALE to get 30% off your entire order. (Here's more info on that Mother's Day deal.)
Solve two of Mom's biggest problems -- can't find her keys, can't find her phone -- with one device. The Tile Pro links the two via Bluetooth, so all it takes is the press of a button or tap of an app to help locate one or the other.
Why choose this over Apple's new AirTags for $29? For one thing, AirTags are for iPhone users only -- so no good for Mom if she has an Android phone. For another, they're one-way: There's no button to press on an AirTag to help locate a missing phone.
If your mom is watching a lot of TV right now, the Roku Streaming Stick Plus is a great Mother's Day gift. It can turn any HDTV into a state-of-the-art streamer that gets every major channel and streaming service, including Netflix (in case your mama, like ours, likes watching Grace and Frankie) and Hulu. It streams up to 4K resolution, and the included remote controls the TV's power and volume, too.
The Tribit StormBox Micro ranks among CNET's favorite budget Bluetooth speakers, with a waterproof design, a bike-mount strap and more bass and volume than you'd expect given its size. It even supports second-speaker pairing, meaning you could get Mom two of these for true stereo sound.
If your mom is a coffee fan and still missing her daily Starbucks runs, a classic Chemex pour-over coffeemaker might be the perfect Mother's Day gift. (Mrs. Cheapskate, the mom in my household, is a newfound fan; we've fully abandoned our Keurig for it.) For other ideas, check out more of our top coffee accessories of 2021.
Think Mom would enjoy an Apple AirPods alternative as her Mother's Day gift? Enacfire isn't exactly a household name, but the company's A9 earbuds earned a spot on CNET's top budget true-wireless earbuds list. Specs include ANC (active noise-canceling) with transparency mode, Bluetooth 5.0 and an IPX7 waterproof rating. Pretty amazing for just $50. And an on-page coupon, available as of this writing, drops them to $40.