23 Best Gifts for a 16-Year-Old Guy Who Seems to Have Everything

This portable and waterproof mini bluetooth speaker clips on to pants or a backpack, almost like a padlock. He can play tunes while shooting hoops, riding his bike, hanging at the pool or lounging at home. The GH Institute named this speaker the best bluetooth speaker for travel for its lightweight and portable design.

A keychain is an inexpensive and apropos gift for any 16-year-old who has learned to drive or will soon. Or, of course, they can use it for house keys. This one is inscribed with his birth year and has a loving, supportive message engraved on the back side.

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My own teen got one of these when he turned 16 and is still using it for home exercise now at age 20. It installs over the door (and comes down easily too) and works even for tall dudes.

This lightweight (5 pounds) skateboard is for street and sidewalk cruising and getting from here to there in a cool way. It arrives fully assembled and ready to roll and comes in other colors like blue, white and black.

Jellycat is the favorite plush brand of current teens and college kids. If your 16-year-old is a sporty guy, this smiling tennis ball is a unique and adorable gift. There's a Jellycat football, baseball and soccer ball as well.

When he needs to hide from the world he can snuggle under the warm softness of this supersoft throw blanket. It comes in more than 20 colors, so you can find his favorite or one that matches his room or school colors.

The teen guys we know don't want big wallets — they're not carrying wads of cash. They want a grown-up wallet for their school ID and debit card, ideally RFID-blocking to protect the wallet from card readers. This one fits the bill, is affordable and gets great user reviews on Amazon.

"LEGOs are still big with 16-year-olds," one mom told us. Your guy might be ready for the sets that are for 18+ but just to be on the safe side, we like aging down to something like this cool, posable Groot. It's still got nearly 500 pieces to make the 8.5-inch figure, so it's not too easy, but also won't frustrate a teen.

"He's been interested in cologne," the mom of a soon-to-be 16-year-old told us. The high-end stuff at Sephora is pricey and drugstore body spray is maybe not special enough. Nautica Voyage makes a great, inexpensive first cologne for him to try. It smells a little beachy and coastal and earns rave reviews. This is the small size, and the larger size is about $30.

Picking out sneakers for any dude is tough, but grabbing a pair of these super-popular, waterproof slip-on sandals is easy. They're perfect house slippers, but we see young guys wearing these out on errands, at the beach or pool and elsewhere.

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Hoodies are the uniform of teen boys, and a popular gift for birthdays or Christmas. We love the price of this one from Amazon, available in two dozen colors.

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Why do some brands become so cool with teens? We don't know, but Carhartt is a current favorite with young people, even if it's been around since 1889. (They probably think they discovered it). Our gift suggestion is the durable sling bag he can use to carry his phone, wallet and a couple of other essentials to concerts, movies and outings with friends.

Is he interested in fitness? This entry-level FitBit is a watch that also tracks his steps and reads his pulse, feeding back information to a free app he can put on his phone.

Okay, this is an actual toy. But if he's into the latest Superman movie (PG-13 and not kiddish) than he might get a huge kick out of this slime-filled Kaiju monster and action figure that can "battle" it. A fun return to his youth.

Is he picking up vinyl records? They — and cassettes — are coveted again. This can hold up to 50 albums and he can display a current favorite in the front.

A sporty kid might love this unique room decor, a 10-inch soccer ball pillow. There's also a baseball, a basketball and a football to put on his bed or chair.

Plenty of 16-year-olds don't seem to really listen to their parents, especially when the parents are trying to instruct them on how to do their own laundry or cook a meal. This book contains easy instructions for 65 grown-up skills that can help a teen be more independent, confident — and a better housemate. They're likely to listen to what the author says, since she's not related to them.

Is he a gamer? A special gamer mouse can help him move faster in his games. This one is wireless and gets thousands of excellent Amazon reviews.

If he likes chess, this 15-inch board folds up to be portable and is magnetic to hold the pieces. It comes with two extra queens. He can take it to school, to a friend's house or on family travels.

This Amazon-exclusive version of the favorite card game UNO is a little more brutal and merciless than the standard version — perfect for a competitive teen looking to go head-to-head with friends or parents. It's for two to six players and includes 56 additional cards, special rules and action cards that might make a player pick 10 more cards from the pile.