21 Best Tech Gifts for Parents That Are Easy to Use

The budget way to put a stream of family photos in your parents' living room. Anyone with the free Frameo app can send pictures straight to the frame, so the grandkids' school photos appear without your parents touching a thing. 32GB of built-in storage holds thousands of images.

For parents who will never open a weather app but will happily say 'Alexa, what's the forecast?' It also sets medication reminders, plays old radio stations and can call you hands-free, which makes it a quiet safety net in a bedroom or kitchen.

Our top pick and the tech gift parents most often thank us for. You and your siblings add photos from your own phones through the Aura app, and they appear on the frame that same day. The matte screen looks like a printed photo rather than a tablet, and there is nothing for your parents to manage once it is on Wi-Fi.

The simplest way for parents to video call the family: say 'Alexa, call Sarah' and the screen does the rest. It also shows the clock, weather and the doorbell camera feed, so it earns a permanent spot on a nightstand or kitchen counter. Our mid-priced top pick.

A wall-mounted touchscreen that shows every appointment, birthday and family visit in one place. You can add their doctor's appointments from your phone, which makes it a smart gift for parents who are starting to need a little help keeping track.

A deadbolt, doorbell camera and fingerprint reader in one. Parents no longer fumble for keys with full shopping bags, you can give a caregiver or neighbor a code, and they can see who is at the door before opening it. Best installed by you or a handyman.

Lets parents see and speak to whoever is at the door from their phone or Echo Show, without getting up or opening it. It runs on a rechargeable battery, so no wiring is needed, and the 2K video makes faces and parcels easy to identify.

For iPhone-using parents who are always hunting for keys, a wallet or the car. Four tags cover the essentials, and the phone plays a sound or points the way to whatever is missing. Also useful on luggage when they travel to see you.

If a doctor has asked one of your parents to check their blood pressure at home, this is the no-fuss way to do it. One button, a big readable display and 14 stored readings, from the brand pharmacists recommend most. No app or account required.

A slim tracker for an active parent who walks, swims or plays golf. It counts steps, tracks heart rate and sleep, and has built-in GPS for walks, all with a battery that lasts days rather than hours. Less fiddly than a full smartwatch and works with Android or iPhone.

Fall detection is the reason many families buy this one: if a parent takes a hard fall and does not respond, the watch can call emergency services. It also tracks heart rate and sleep and shows texts on the wrist. Requires an iPhone.

Goes beyond weight with body fat and muscle readings, and syncs over Wi-Fi so there is no phone to pair at each weigh-in. Useful for a parent working on fitness goals with a doctor or trainer, and it is FSA/HSA eligible.

The splurge for parents who find vacuuming harder on their backs than it used to be. It maps the house, steers around cords and pet messes, and empties itself into a base that only needs changing about every 60 days. A big gift to split between siblings.

Keeps the house comfortable without anyone fiddling with the dial, and you can check from your own phone that the heating is on during a cold snap. The included room sensor evens out hot and cold rooms, and it can trim energy bills too.

The cheapest smart home upgrade there is. Plug in a lamp and it can turn on at dusk every evening, which makes coming home safer and the house look occupied when they travel. Pair with an Echo Dot for voice control.

Two color bulbs and a bridge that can wake parents with a gentle sunrise or dim the living room for a movie. Lights can be scheduled or turned on by voice, so nobody needs to find the switch in the dark.

A small, waterproof speaker that makes phone audio audible in the garden, the bathroom or the workshop. It pairs once and then just works, and at around $35 it is an easy add-on to a bigger gift.

Excellent for a parent who flies to visit you or wants to watch TV late without waking the other one. The noise cancelling cuts plane and engine drone, the sound is rich, and the controls are simple taps on the ear cup.

The gift for a parent who reads but finds small print harder each year. Text size goes up with a tap, the glare-free screen works in bright sun or a dark bedroom, and the battery lasts weeks. It is also far lighter than a hardback.

Our budget top pick. It plugs into the TV's HDMI port and turns an older set into a smart one, with free live TV and voice search, so parents can say 'find Yellowstone' instead of typing on the screen. Log in to their streaming services before you give it.

For an Apple household, one stand charges the iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods together and ends the nightstand cable mess. It folds flat, so it also goes in the suitcase when they visit you.