Key HighlightsRaksha Bandhan 2026 falls on Friday 28 August, with the muhurat running 5:57 AM to 9:48 AM ISTThe 25 picks run from an Anker 20,000mAh power bank at Rs 6,899 to the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra at Rs 1,99,999Memory costs pushed prices up all year, and the 13-inch MacBook Air M5 alone moved from Rs 1,19,900 to Rs 1,49,900 in AugustRaksha Bandhan 2026 falls on Friday 28 August, which leaves one day to buy, wrap and hand it over. Quick-commerce apps and same-day metro delivery cover most gadgets under Rs 30,000, while Croma, Reliance Digital and Vijay Sales carry almost everything above that line as walk-in stock. The 25 picks below run from Rs 6,899 to Rs 1,99,999, spanning earbuds, air purifiers, robot vacuums, consoles, wearables and foldables. Each price carries the date and the channel it was checked against, because Indian street prices move with bank offers every fortnight.Why do gadgets cost more this Rakhi than last year?Memory chips are the component every device buys by the tonne, and the 2026 shortage priced them the way a fuel crisis prices every car on a forecourt at once. Google said soaring memory costs would force price adjustments, and the Pixel 11 duly launched at Rs 89,999, some Rs 10,000 above the Pixel 10. Apple moved the 13-inch MacBook Air M5 from Rs 1,19,900 at its March launch to Rs 1,49,900 in August, a Rs 30,000 jump on the same machine. Samsung's July foldables landed about Rs 15,000 above their equivalents from two generations back.About The AuthorAt heart, I am a storyteller drawn to the watershed moments that bend the technology landscape. I braid narrative with data, humanise statistics, and trace the arc from first spark to world-changing impact. My reportage, features and reviews are witty, sardonic, visual and vivid, using anecdote to illuminate rather than eviscerate.