Elgato Stream Deck MK.2 Studio Controller, 15 Macro Keys

Why it's worth it

Fifteen customizable LCD keys that trigger anything — build scripts, deploy commands, mute on a call, or switch scenes. It's sold to streamers, but developers who get one tend to become loud about it.

Most people file the Stream Deck under streaming gear, which is exactly why it works as a gift. The developer on your list probably hasn't bought one. Elgato's marketplace carries 300-plus integrations, including plugins for VS Code, GitHub Actions, Jira, Slack, and Zoom, so the mapping work is mostly picking rather than building.

This is the gift for the person who automates everything already. If they've written shell aliases for commands they run twice a day, they'll take one look at fifteen programmable keys and start planning. How-To Geek's workflow case studies estimated 40 to 45 minutes saved per workday when developers mapped IDE and CI/CD shortcuts to physical keys. Treat that as directional rather than a promise — the real appeal is that fiddling with it is fun.

From our review of 7 gifts for programmers and developers

What we like

• +Most people file the Stream Deck under streaming gear, which is exactly why it works as a gift
• +This is the gift for the person who automates everything already
• +The LCD screens under each key are the detail that makes it stick
• +It unwraps well. It's a small, solid object with a screen that lights up the moment it's plugged in, which is more satisfying to…

What to know

• –It's a Windows and macOS product first
• –Fifteen keys sounds like a lot until they start mapping
• –If your recipient doesn't already have a habit of automating things, this can sit unused