Tech Tips
Stocking fillers under £5: what’s worth buying
Under £5 the shelf is small and the right choices are obvious once you know which ones fit any device and which fit exactly one.
The short version
Three things fit anyone: a braided charging cable, a microSD card with an SD adapter, and a headphone jack adapter. Two need the exact model — screen protectors and phone cases — and are the most returned accessory gifts because of it. Buy a small memory card deliberately, for a small job. Cheap is fine; unbranded, with no stated wattage, is not.
Stocking fillers are a harder brief than they look: the budget rules out anything with a battery or a brand, and what is left is accessories. The good news is that accessories at this price are genuinely useful, provided you pick from the half of the shelf that does not care which phone someone owns.
What fits anyone?
A braided charging cable. Most households are one cable short, and the one they have is fraying. Braiding is the specification that matters at any price, because cables fail at the connector from bending, not electrically. Check the connector — USB-C has replaced Lightning on the iPhone 15 and newer — and check the wattage is at least as high as the device draws.
A microSD card with an SD adapter. Better value than it looks, because the same card works in a phone, a camera and a laptop card slot. At this price you are buying an 8GB card, which is a specific tool rather than a general one — see below.
A headphone jack adapter. Unglamorous and quietly among the most appreciated things on this list. Anyone still using wired headphones with a phone that dropped the socket has either lost theirs or never had one.
What needs the exact model?
Exhibit 1 — Under £5, by whether it needs a model match
| Item | Fits any device? | As a stocking filler |
|---|---|---|
| Braided USB-C cable | Yes — check connector | The safest choice here |
| microSD card + SD adapter | Yes | Safe. Buy for a specific job |
| Headphone jack adapter | Yes — check port | Safe, and often needed |
| Screen protector | No — one model only | Only if you have checked |
| Phone case | No — model and variant | Only if you have checked |
Cases and protectors are not worse products. They are simply the wrong shape of purchase for a gift, unless you have had the phone in your hand recently enough to be sure of the variant.
Is a small memory card still worth buying?
Yes, for the right job. An 8GB or 16GB card is perfectly suited to a dash camera, an older handset, a device that only stores documents, or a console save card. It is not suited to anyone’s photographs, where you want 32GB at least.
Buy the small card deliberately, in other words, rather than as a cheap version of a big one. Pointed at the right device it is a good gift; pointed at a modern phone it fills up in a fortnight.
One warning worth repeating: anything recording continuously — a dash camera, a security camera — should have a high-endurance card rather than a standard one. Standard cards are rated for occasional writes and wear out under constant recording, which is the usual reason a camera quietly stops saving footage a few months in.
How thick should a screen protector be?
If you do know the model, the choice is between about 0.2mm and 0.33mm. The thicker one resists a sharp impact better. The thinner one feels closer to the bare glass under a finger and sits more comfortably under a case with a raised lip. Both handle scratches, which is what most protectors are actually bought for.
Neither will fit a different model from the one on the box, which brings us back to the only rule that matters on this page.
Four picks under £5
- 60W USB-C to USB-A braided cable → — braided, rated, fits any USB-C device. The default answer on this page.
- microSD card with free SD adapter → — for a dash camera, an older phone or a second device.
- Lightning to 3.5mm headphone adapter → — for wired headphones on an iPhone 14 or older. An iPhone 15 or newer needs the USB-C version, which sits just above £5.
- Screen protector, 0.33mm → — the exception to everything above. Only buy this if you have the phone in your hand. If you do, it is a genuinely useful thing to receive.
A little more to spend? See the under-£10 list →
Frequently asked questions
What tech can you actually buy for under £5?
Charging cables, memory cards and headphone adapters — all of which work with any compatible device. Screen protectors and cases also appear at this price but are made for one exact handset, so they only work as a gift if you know the model.
Are cheap charging cables safe?
A cable from a known retailer, rated for the wattage it claims, is safe. Price mostly buys durability: braided cables survive a bag, unbraided ones fray at the connector. Avoid unbranded cables with no stated wattage, because there is no way to know what they deliver.
Is an 8GB memory card still useful?
Yes, for a dash camera, an older handset, a console save card or a device that stores documents. It is not enough for photography or video on a modern phone, where you want 32GB at least. Buy it deliberately for a small job.
Can you buy a phone case as a stocking filler?
Only if you know the exact model and variant — an iPhone 15 case will not fit an iPhone 15 Pro. It is the most commonly returned accessory gift for precisely this reason.
What is the difference between a 0.2mm and a 0.33mm screen protector?
Thickness, and what it trades. 0.33mm resists sharp impact better; 0.2mm feels closer to bare glass and sits better under a case with a raised lip. Both handle scratches. Neither fits a different model.
Sources and notes
- Prices and availability from the Gibutech catalogue, correct at the date above. Eight products sit below £5 at the time of writing, of which four are model-specific.
- Free tracked UK delivery applies to orders over £20, which is why combining small items into one order is suggested above.
- High-endurance guidance applies to continuous-recording devices and reflects the different write-endurance rating of those cards.
