Father's Day gift guide 2025: we tried and tested 18 items

The Sun

20-05-2025

CONSIDER yourself reminded: Father's Day is on June 15th.
In our experience, at least, Father's Day tends to sneak under the radar compared to Mother's Day — mostly because dads pretend not to care what you get them.
That means its easy to fall into lazy habits like buying him the same gift every single year, or promising to take him for a meal or round of golf that never materialises.
We've done the hard work and tested some of the best gifts on the market, for every sort of father figure.
Read our full Father's Day gift guide below.
A citrusy, summery perfume
Limão & Néroli Eau de Cologne (100ml), £60 from Liberty London
This might seem like an obvious choice, but it's classic for a reason — perfume is a great way to show your dad that you know his tastes and personal preferences.
If you're unsure where to turn, we'd recommend leaning into the warm weather with something fresh and citrusy.
At Sun Shopping, we've recently become big fans of Granado, Brazil's oldest perfumier. There's something sexy about its history, tradition and branding, not to mention its beautiful scents.
The brand's newest fragrance, Citrus Brasilis, is perfect for warmer, longer days. It's full of fresh lemon on first spray, before settling into a slightly minty, floral scent. It's like the first sip of a limoncello spritz.
Plus, it comes in a beautiful, decorated yellow gift box, making it perfect for Father's Day.
If you're looking for something slightly cheaper, try the Limão and Neroli scent, which retails at just £60 for a huge 100ml bottle.
It's perhaps not as citrus-heavy as the Citrus Brasilis, leaning more towards the soapy, floral scent of Neroli. You'll be hard-pressed to find a nicer scent for the price.
His new go-to summer shirt
Linen Blend Shirt Jacket, £39.90 from Uniqlo
Dad dressing is at its very worst in summer. Garish floral shirts, odd headwear, deeply unfashionable sunglasses; it's a minefield for all middle-aged men.
Give him a helping hand with this understated overshirt from Uniqlo.
It comes with a 50s-style Cuban collar, which adds a touch of class without being off-puttingly "fashion-y", and the mixture of linen and cotton means that it's cool and breathable without the constant creasing you get from pure linen.
It also comes in five versatile colours, and is reasonably priced at under £40.
One note though: Uniqlo does tend to run large, so consider sizing down, especially if he's between sizes.
Bamboo boxers
Regular Fitted Air Bamboo Boxers in Masia Print, £22 from BAM
Sometimes, it's life's little luxuries that make the difference between a good day and a bad one. For example, putting on the comfiest pair of boxers in the entire world.
Enter these, from the bamboo clothing brand BAM. They're made from 64% Bamboo Viscose, making them extremely soft and very breathable — the perfect material for boxers.
With their slightly longer-than-usual length and a range of 21 colours to choose from, these are a great gift for a dad who likes the finer things in life.
And at £22 per pair, they're perhaps too expensive for someone to buy for themselves, but they're affordable enough for a Father's Day gift.
By Sean Keach, The Sun's Head of Technology and Science
I've tested gadgets running into tens of thousands of pounds – but the product I seem to bang on about the most costs less than £100.
So if you love your dad and want him to also obsess over something you've bought him, snap up the Anker MagGo Wireless Charging Station (Foldable 3-in-1).
I raved about this portable charger in my Anker MagGo review last year.
It's basically a pocket-sized foldable charging station that lets you power up not one but three gadgets at once.
At first glance, it looks like a useless flat slab. But you can fold out the back to charge an Apple Watch, and flip apart the centre to juice up a pair of AirPods.
Then your iPhone snaps to the front panel magnetically. That means it also enables Apple's cool StandBy mode that turns your mobile into a bedside table clock.
I take this gadget absolutely everywhere with me. Your dad will too.
Anker MagGo 3-in-1 Wireless Charging Station, £99.99 from Amazon - buy here
A very classy selection of beer
Get a free box of beers worth £27 from Beer52
There's no getting around the fact that beer isn't the most groundbreaking Father's Day gift, but why mess with a winning formula?
That doesn't mean, though, that you have to get him a box of old English ales with names like "Dusty Badger" (unless that's his sort of thing, of course).
We'd recommend heading to Beer52, where you can get a free box of beer worth £27 — you just have to pay the £5.95 postage fee.
When we tried it, it contained a beautifully curated, exciting selection of beers from all over the world, featuring breweries in Japan, Sweden and New Zealand.
It's certainly an eccentric mix, and your dad might not love every beer (the selection was a bit stout/porter heavy for our reviewer), but if he keeps an open mind, he just might find a new favourite.
The Cinnamon Bun IPA in our selection, for example, was an unexpected delight. And if you know your dad isn't a fan of darker beers, you can choose to receive a selection exclusively comprising light ones.
As an extra touch of class, Beer52 also includes a couple of fancy snacks and a copy of "Ferment", the UK's premier craft beer magazine, which has features and interviews about the makers of the beer your dad will be drinking.
Not bad for less than £6!
A very classy selection of wine
Get £30 off your first Naked Wines order
Different strokes for different folks, of course, but for our money, wine makes for a better gift than beer.
There's a sense of occasion you get from prising open a bottle of pinot noir that you just don't get from cracking open a can of IPA.
Naked Wines is the way to go, if you ask us. It gives you £30 off your first order, meaning your first six bottles cost just £34.99 — a perfect price for a Father's Day gift.
You can choose whether he receives red, white, or a mix of both, and you can then specify whether he prefers "big reds and rich whites" or "smooth reds and crisp whites".
All the bottles we tried were delicious — the only difficulty was trying to make the selection last for more than a week!
A very classy selection of chocolates
"Made for Him" Father's Day Chocolate Hamper, £34.95 from Love Cocoa
Love Cocoa was established by chocolate royalty — its founder is James Cadbury, the great-great-great grandson of the original Mr. Cadbury.
That doesn't automatically make it worth buying, but we can attest that the Father's Day selection is very lovely indeed.
It includes four tasty products: Salted Caramel Truffles, Salted Caramel Biscuits, Honeycomb Milk Chocolate and Maldon Sea Salt Dark Chocolate.
Just be sure your dad likes salt before you buy it — if he does, don't expect any of the products to stick around for too long (the biscuits didn't even make it 24 hours, in our case).
All of the products are beautifully presented — the truffles and biscuits are in lovely cylindrical boxes, and the two bars of chocolate are in vibrant coloured cardboard.
They're all presented in a nice box, too, which can be reused when the chocolate is nothing but a distant memory.
A Mediterranean tapas selection
We're in prime "picky bits in the garden" season, and we can't think of many better things to do than sit in the sun, drink a very cold glass of white wine, and make our way through this selection of tapas from Boxtapas.
Priced at £55, it's an authentic selection of some of the most premium cans and jars Spain has to offer, including trendy tinned fish, artisinal patés and snacks including almonds, olives and breadsticks.
We loved that several of the choices could be eaten either by themselves or used as ingredients to make meals more premium.
The tinned mackerel and roasted peppers, for example, could be eaten simply with some posh bread, bruschetta style, or combined with some olive oil to make a delicious, quick, savoury pasta.
An AI Chess Set
At £215 on sale at Very, this would certainly be a generous gift, but if you're after something that'll get used again and again, this is a great shout.
Billed as "the most powerful chess board ever invented", we think this would be great for a recently-retired dad, but it's also a handy present for anyone wanting to get into the often daunting game of chess.
It's a great, fun way of improving your skills; you play an AI opponent (you can choose from 1-300 difficulty), while the clever board helps you level up your game by suggesting the best moves (although you can turn this setting off if you don't want the help).
You can also play friends or strangers online, or — obviously — use it with a partner as an old-fashioned chess board.
There's even a daily challenge to test out how you handle different scenarios.
The board and pieces are stylishly designed and nice enough to stay out on display, but they're lightweight enough to take on holiday, too.
A distinguished pen
Cerutti 1881 Heritage Rollerball Pen, £60 £48 from Farrar & Tanner
BUY HERE
This is a great gift for any analogue dad.
And, to be fair, we can't argue that it feels nice to have a reassuringly expensive, weighty pen in your hand — as soon as we received ours, we were overwhelmed with the temptation to hand-write a manifesto against the digitisation of modern life.
It's possible to spend absurd amounts of money on luxury writing tools, but a more affordable option is the Heritage Classic Rollerball Pen by Cerutti 1881, which is on sale for just £48 at Farrar and Tanner — expensive enough to be a generous gift, but not so pricey that it's world-ending if he loses it.
It's a dream to write with, comes in a stylish, sleek silver colour and is presented in an easy-to-wrap gift box. Tick, tick, tick.
A trusty pair of gardening clogs
Billie Clogs, £59.95 from Merry People
If you've got a green-fingered dad whose choice of gardening footwear is a pair of holey running trainers from 20 years ago, a pair of stylish, durable clogs could be a great gift.
These Wellington-esque ones from Merry People come in a range of fun colours, from traditional green and blue to sunny yellow. They're fairly similar to the Hunter Play Clog, but at a slightly cheaper price point.
They're made from 100% natural rubber and are fully waterproof, with a grippy sole that ensures he won't go flying after slipping on freshly-watered grass.
A plush pillow
Coolmax Latex Pillow, £179 £98.01 from Origin Mattress
For a busy dad, is there a more valuable gift than a good night's sleep?
A good pillow is one of the easiest ways to upgrade your kip; it eliminates the need to mess around with your mattress, but for our money, it has almost as dramatic an effect.
One of our current favourites is the Origin Coolmax Latex Pillow, which is on sale with 45% off (down from £179 to £98.01).
It's quite firm, so make sure that's something he'll like, but it's also very cool to the touch and pressure-relieving.
A fancy frying pan
Titanium Always Pan Pro, £170 from Our Place
The Titanium Always Pan Pro is the ultimate kitchen companion.
Whether he's sautéing, frying, roasting, boiling, baking, braising, searing or serving straight from the pan, this versatile piece of kit does it all and looks effortlessly stylish both on and off the stove.
The Titanium Always Pan Pro claims to have the world's first "coating-free nonstick technology", meaning no harmful chemicals and an easy clean-up after the culinary magic is done.
Its unique honeycomb-like surface features a titanium-based coating (hence the name — the pan itself is mostly made from Stainless Steel) that's reportedly 300% harder than alternatives, and adds a touch of elegance to the cooking experience.
We've tested it out on every culinary task from searing salmon to steaming veggies, and it's Always (pardon the pun) come out on top.
On the rare chance Dad puts it to the ultimate test, you'll have peace of mind with its lifetime guarantee.
Plus, it's oven-safe to an impressive 535°C (much higher than chemically-coated non-stick pans, and higher than ordinary ovens will go to), perfect for mastering that Sunday roast.
A do-it-all knife set
Professional X50 Contour Knife Set, £149 £119.20 from ProCook
BUY HERE
Chefs will occasionally try and convince you that "one knife is all you need", and technically, it might be true — but we like having choice.
This five-knife block from ProCook is fairly priced at £119.20 (down from £149), and includes every knife the average home cook will ever need: a six-inch chef's knife for most tasks, a five-inch utility and 3.5-inch paring knife for fiddlier tasks, a 10-inch carving knife and a 10-inch bread knife.
We've been using the set for half a year and have been really impressed with how long the knives have stayed sharp, as well as their comfy, contoured (and stylish) handles.
The knives also come encased in a sleek, smoky glass block, which allows you to see which knife you're picking up (something we hate about wooden knife blocks).
An easy-to-use knife sharpener
Horl 3 Cruise, £99 from Horl
Nothing positively impacts the satisfaction (and, oddly, safety) of cooking like having a sharp knife.
It makes chopping easier, more precise and faster — and you'll find that your eyes sting a lot less slicing onions, too.
We've tried a few knife sharpeners, and none we've tried walk the line between effectiveness and ease like the Horl 3 Cruise.
It works super simply; you magnetically attach your knife to one of the two sharpening angles (15° creates a particularly sharp edge, 20° creates a more robust one), then run the diamond disc along the cutting edges of the blade.
You then follow it up with the stainless steel disc to ensure a smooth knife edge.
The whole process takes just a few minutes, and takes no time at all to get the hang of.
A meat thermometer that'll take his BBQs to the next level
In cooking terms, there's nothing like the disappointment of biting into a piece of meat you've spent hours slaving over, only to be left gasping for water because you've overcooked it into a dry, unappealing mess.
It doesn't help that the cooking instructions on supermarket meat are often wildly off, erring far more on the side of safety than flavour.
The device that has made the biggest difference to the standard of our cooking is the Meater.
We haven't cooked a piece of dry meat since we bought it, and it turned Christmas Day cooking into a piece of cake — even in an unfamiliar kitchen.
It's a Bluetooth meat thermometer that connects to an app on your phone and has settings for almost every cut of meat you can think of.
Once you've chosen how well you want your meat cooked and it's had a few minutes to adjust to the temperature of your oven or BBQ, it will give you a fairly accurate estimate of how long your cook has left, enabling you to ensure every element of your meal is ready at the same time.
We tested out the £329 Meater Pro XL, but unless he's going to be cooking several cuts of meat at the same time, we'd stick to the much cheaper single-probe Meater Plus (£99) or dual-probe Pro Duo (£189).
There's also a new SE version, which is just £79.
A Bluetooth keyring
2
We all know a man who loses anything that isn't physically attached to his body: his keys, wallet, phone, the TV remote...
Tile's Bluetooth keyring has saved our skin on more than one occasion. It's super simple to use — if you can't find your keys, you simply go on the Tile app and click "find". Your keys will then begin to emit a loud ringtone, enabling you to find them.
And if you think you've lost them, you can see their whereabouts on a map, too.
Even better, if you've lost your phone, you can click a little button on the keyring, and it'll work the other way round — your phone will begin to ring so that you can find it.
Tile also makes credit-card-sized trackers that can slide inside your wallet, as well as sticky ones you can attach to your TV remote or bike.
Now they just need to invent one small enough to fit on a pair of glasses...
An unnecessarily nice water bottle
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Let's face it, a water bottle isn't the most exciting of gifts. A Le Creuset water bottle, on the other hand...
Available in two sizes and eight of the brand's iconic colours, the Le Creuset insulated water bottle does everything you'd want a fancy bottle to do.
Namely, it keeps things cold, thanks to its double-wall stainless steel interior, it doesn't leak thanks to a double threaded opening, and as careless as we are with it, we can't seem to scratch or dent it.
Unusually, there's a second, wider opening further down the bottle, too, which is handy for two things: adding ice, and making it possible to deep clean.