Holiday Gift Guide 2024: The best gifts for an on-the-go lifestyle

By Paul Cockeram

With the whole world open for business, people are more mobile than ever. Students travel between school, work, and home while using every spare minute to make progress on projects or connect with friends. It’s become increasingly common for travelers to combine business with pleasure, while workers enjoy new hybrid arrangements that give them the freedom to work from just about anywhere. Meanwhile, even those who choose to stay hunkered down at home enjoy the ability to roam from bedroom to couch, with perhaps a break on the back patio for fresh air.

All this means that there’s likely some folks on your holiday shopping list who’ve fully embraced an on-the-go lifestyle — and, as you might have found out already, they can be difficult to shop for. If your gift requires them to stay at their desk to enjoy it, they might not get as much use from it as you hoped they would. But we’re here to help. In this holiday gift guide, you’ll find a wide range of gamer gear, portable monitors, ultraportable laptops, and versatile peripherals that travel light while helping your loved one keep in touch.

Long-lasting sound in a light package

When you’re on the move, wireless earbuds are the most convenient way to catch up on your favorite podcast or listen to music. So it’s a safe bet your friend or family member will enjoy a new set of high-quality, gaming-ready ROG Cetra True Wireless SpeedNova headphones.

Available in black or white, these wireless gaming headphones are shaped for a comfortable yet snug fit. Unlike most earbuds, the ROG Cetra True Wireless SpeedNova connect either through convenient Bluetooth or through an ultra-low latency 2.4GHz connection that’s perfect for gaming. When your friend or loved one needs to shut out the outside world, they can toggle adaptive noise canceling. In Auto mode, the ANC will be optimized based on the pods’ conformity to the ear canal, with automatic adjustments to sound quality compensating for ambient noise. Long-lasting batteries and optimized operation keeps the sound flowing, and fast in-case charging delivers minimal down time.

And whenever you need to get in touch, you’ll appreciate the bone-conduction AI microphones that precisely pick up your loved one’s voice. No matter how far your loved one roams, you can depend on crystal-clear phone calls whenever you want to hear their voice.

Easy gaming on the go

Considering the near-endless wealth of gaming experiences available on Android smartphones, you’d think that most folks would feel like they’re walking around with a gaming console in their pocket. But for those of us who grew up with PC and console gaming, the touchscreen interface of a smartphone isn’t quite as comfortable or precise as we’d like.

This holiday season, you can unlock the gaming potential of a loved one’s Android smartphone with the versatile ROG Tessen mobile controller. During travel, this handheld controller folds easily to slide into a bag or pocket. When the time comes to relax with some gameplay, the ROG Tessen’s rubber support pads and extended Type-C connector let your gamer plug their smartphone into the controller without removing the phone’s protective case. Meanwhile, the 18W fast pass-through charging makes it easy to top off their phone’s battery without missing a moment of the action.

All this convenience comes with no cost to playability. The ROG Tessen’s aluminum rear paddles are programmable on the fly or within the ROG Armoury Crate app, allowing users to execute complex commands in-game. And the ROG Tessen has all the hardware quality you expect from our Republic of Gamers lineup, with mechanical switches for the face buttons and D-pad that provide rapid response, tactile feedback, and lasting durability.

Portable visuals on demand

Of course, living on-the-go doesn’t always mean leaving the house. Think of those holiday gatherings where crowds of visiting friends and family fill every seat and occupy every available screen. Inevitably, some group feels left out, like frustrated children clamoring to watch a favorite movie with their cousins. But if you add an ASUS ZenBeam L2 portable projector to your household, you can add one more display to the mix — and unlike the others, it’ll work anywhere there’s a projection surface.

This pint-sized smart projector can pump out 960 LED lumens in Full HD native resolution, complete with 4K compatibility to let your loved ones stream the highest-quality video in bright, clear pictures. Put the ZenBeam L2 one meter from the wall for a 40-inch image, or move the projector back a couple meters to get a 120-inch image with no loss of quality. Automatic focus and geometric corrections ensure a perfect picture, even when projecting from an off angle. The 10W speaker will keep everyone immersed in the show, while the built-in battery lets them take the show on the road.

The ZenBeam L2 easily connects to a wide range of devices, letting your loved one enjoy everything from a backyard movie night to an impromptu Mario Kart battle. To get things started, the ZenBeam L2 includes a Google Certified Android 12 TV box preloaded with Netflix.

Travel and create beyond boundaries

One reason the on-the-go lifestyle has grown so popular is that many creators can’t afford to be tied to an office. Whether you’re shopping for a musician or photographer who seeks inspiration in peculiar places, a filmmaker who needs a high-performance PC on their set, or a 3D animator who takes projects to their clients, you’re looking for portable tech that expands their creative potential.

Give them all of that plus some timely assistance on their projects with the Zenbook S14 (UX5406). This ultra-portable, ultra-slim laptop will launch your loved one into the new era of AI by equipping them with a Copilot+ PC, putting the full power of the AI revolution at their fingertips. They’ll have a personal assistant, researcher, and creative sounding board anywhere they go. And with the Zenbook S14’s travel-friendly .47-inch width and 2.65-pound weight, they’ll take it everywhere.

The Zenbook S14 also maintains the power and sophistication of its predecessors. The all-metal body has a unique Ceraluminum lid in colors inspired by nature. For a real visual feast, watch them boot up its stunning 3K ASUS Lumina OLED display with lifelike visuals. The 4-speaker audio system helps music creators and editors fine-tune their work wherever, and the enlarged ergonomic touchpad matches the screen’s aspect ratio to allow intuitive control and increase their workflow.

Widen their horizons

Nothing boosts the multitasking power of an on-the-go workstation quite like a portable display. For the road warrior on your shopping list, consider the ZenScreen MB16ACV. This portable monitor has a 15.6-inch Full HD display in an ultraslim design that slides neatly into a backpack or shoulder bag. It’s easy to use, too, since the display is ready to handle both power and video over a single USB Type-C cable.

To keep your friends and family healthy, we gave the ZenScreen MB16ACV an anti-glare IPS display and TÜV Rheinland-certified Low Blue Light technology for comfortable viewing over the duration. For even more peace of mind, we added our proprietary, long-lasting antibacterial treatment to inhibit the growth of bacteria and fungi on the commonly-touched surfaces of the monitor.

Carry all their favorite games in one place

Of course, the holidays are also a time for play and relaxation. Give your friend or family member a break from work with an ROG Ally X gaming handheld. This potent gaming device has the chops to run even the latest PC games, and it’s equipped with an immersive Full HD 120Hz high refresh display that provides a crystal-clear view of the action in even their fastest-paced games. For even longer gaming sessions away from an outlet, this device boasts a beefy 80Wh battery.

The ROG Ally X is the perfect sidekick for anyone on your shopping list who’s already a PC gaming enthusiast, since it will let them play the games that they already own in their Steam, Epic, and GOG libraries. This true Windows 11 handheld console also comes pre-bundled with three free months of Game Pass so that they can discover even more favorites. With a generous 1TB of storage space, they’ll be able to keep their favorites on hand at all times.

Power and luxury in one package

Perhaps there’s a creator or artist on your shopping list who’s always getting inspired at moments when they don’t have the hardware to follow through on the idea. Consider boosting their creativity with the ProArt PX13. This high-performance laptop tears down boundaries by singlehandedly transforming any setting into a studio. Visual artists will have all the hardware they need to ensure precise color accuracy and flawless proofing. Lifelike image detail blazes by at unprecedented speeds thanks to the powerful combination of a vivid OLED touchscreen and GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU. Technical constraints will be a thing of the past as your loved one enjoys faster rendering, smoother playback, real-time video editing, and 3D design, all of it accelerated by AI.

The ProArt PX13 also comes equipped with a one-stop AI media hub in the StoryCube app. And to help your loved one’s dreams grow, the MuseTree app brings even more AI magic. When the time comes to review or share their creations, or whenever inspiration strikes, the computer’s 13-inch screen is fully convertible, effortlessly switching between laptop, tablet, stand, and tent modes. And the ProArt PX13 is a good long-term investment too, courtesy of its durability testing that meets the stringent MIL-STD 810H standard. This powerful PC provides both a reliable creativity studio and communications lifeline even in the heart of the jungle.

Luxurious peripherals make good gifts, too

Sometimes, the best gifts are little things that slot neatly into someone’s life, but they never would have thought to buy for themselves. Every laptop user appreciates the added convenience and boost to workflow provided by a portable mouse. An excellent candidate is the ROG Harpe Ace Mini, an ultralight 49-gram gaming mouse approved by professional FPS players.

This redesigned, smaller version of our popular Harpe Ace mouse fits comfortably into a wide variety of handshapes and grip types. The built-in AimPoint Pro 42,000 dpi optical sensor guarantees pinpoint precision without stutters or skips. And the ROG Harpe Ace Mini keeps giving, with instant actuation and crisp clicks over a 100-million click lifespan. Its tri-mode connectivity lets your friend or loved one pair the mouse to their device via Bluetooth, plug into a USB port, or connect with a low-latency 2.4GHz RF signal.

For the globe-trotting tech lover who already has all this gear in hand, give the gift of security and convenience with an ASUS RT-AX57 Go travel router. This bucket of connectivity and convenience fits in the palm of their hand. Inside its compact 120mm long by 21.5mm thick case is everything required for worry-free networking wherever your loved one goes, including heavily populated public spaces like airports and hotels where WiFi security can get iffy.

The RT-AX57 Go offers versatile options for staying connected. In the hotel or office, the built-in WAN port provides Ethernet connectivity and the functionality of a regular router. During travel, when there are no Ethernet cables around, the RT-AX57 can automatically tether to your loved one’s smartphone over 4G/5G and connect all their other devices to WiFi, including the ones without a mobile data connection of their own. And in environments with questionable WiFi security, activate the public WiFi mode to establish a secure network for all portable devices. Nothing says “I love you” like some peace of mind for a road-weary traveler, an on-the-go reminder of the safety of home.

Happy holidays from ASUS and ROG

This is just a small selection of the hardware we offer to creators, gamers, and everyday PC users, but we hope this list helped you find the right gifts for your on-the-go friends and family. Are you looking for gift ideas from our other product lines? Follow the links below to explore all the exciting tech we are offering this holiday season.

• Holiday Gift Guide 2024: the best gifts for gamers from ROG and TUF Gaming
• Holiday Gift Guide 2024: build a PC with a loved one this holiday season
• Holiday Gift Guide 2024: the best gifts from ROG for someone who has it all 
• Early Black Friday deals guide 2024
• Black Friday deals on ProArt monitors
• Black Friday deals on ROG Monitors
• Black Friday deals on ZenScreen portable monitors