5 Tiny Gadgets You Can Attach To Your Keychain

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

Your keys don't have to be bland. For many of us, a keychain is one more way of showing who we are as a person — another accessory that can be customized to fit our taste. Whether you prefer a sleek modern design or a tiny figurine of your favorite character dangling from the ring, keychains make keys a lot less boring.

You can put a lot more on your keychain than just decorations, though. From daily necessities to useful gadgets and even some tiny pieces of tech made for amusement, there are many ways to customize your keychain and get more out of it, much like you would with MagSafe accessories for your iPhone.

With that in mind, we put together a list of fun keychain gadgets that are worth a look. From discreet ways to charge your devices to self-defense essentials and interactive trinkets that can be amazing conversation starters, there's something here for every keyring. All of the keychain gadgets we highlight below are very budget-friendly, and you can get any of them for less than 25 bucks.

These days, we're more connected and reliant on our devices than ever before. For most people, a phone's no less than a lifeline, being the one device that they rely on to contact people, navigate, and even make payments. There are many cheap phone accessories that you should stay away from, but a reliable power bank or charger, on the other hand, will be one of your best purchases — especially if it can also charge your other accessories.

While a charger is best, you don't always have access to power outlets when traveling. Any normal power bank would work in such situations, but you can't always carry around a beefy battery brick for your devices. Fortunately, there are many tiny power banks available now, with some of them being so small you can put one on your keychain.

The SnapGo mini portable charger from Iniu is perfect for a keychain, and it'll charge almost all of your devices in a pinch. Unlike other power banks of similar size, this one comes with a surprisingly solid 5,000 mAh power cell. This still isn't enough to replace your charger, but it can get most phones to above 80% battery, especially with its 20-watt USB PD fast charging. It even features 5-watt wireless charging for your Apple Watch, something you don't usually see with chargers of this size. The asking price for all of this is only $25 at the time of this writing, making it one of the most budget-friendly power banks for a quick charge.

Interactive keychain gadgets aren't anything new — even people in the '90s had virtual Tamagotchi pets on their keychains. But these days, there are ways to carry a fully functioning arcade alongside your keys. If you're a fan of old-school games and want a retro aesthetic for your fidgeting needs, you might want to check out Micro Arcade's mini Pac-Man console at just $21.

This tiny gadget comes with a color display, sound effects, and tactile physical buttons. It's smaller than a credit card, but despite its diminutive stature, it lets you play the same game as an actual Pac-Man arcade console, including the hundreds of levels you'd find on one. It comes with a micro USB charger that you can use to top off its battery when needed. With about 70% of nearly 400 reviewers giving it 5 stars, the only big complaint seems to be the lack of a high-score system.

Safety is one of the few areas where you absolutely cannot compromise, especially when you're out and about. However, even if you're prepared, it's not uncommon to forget something that may be integral to your security inside your car. With keys being among the few things most people keep on their person at all times, it might be a good idea to use your keychain for something important and put a self-defense gadget on it.

Original Defense's self-defense siren keychain is a tiny mechanical device that you can attach to your keychain. When you pull the ring off, it emits a loud noise and flashes a bright light. This can both disorient someone who is threatening your security as well as alert others nearby to come to your aid. It's a relatively simple gadget that comes in four colors — magenta, black, white, and mint — that you can get for less than $20 on Amazon.

A good flashlight has always been one of the most useful things to have on your person at all times. While this isn't quite as true now that smartphones let you use their LED camera flash in a pinch, a proper flashlight is still handy to have around for when your phone dies or when a smartphone flashlight simply wouldn't be enough.

Traditional flashlights are bulky, however, and carrying around a full-size flashlight everywhere on the off chance that you might need it isn't something most people want to do. Instead, you can give Blukar's rechargeable EDC flashlight a try for $14 on Amazon.

This tiny flashlight can attach to your keychain without really adding weight or bulk. While it won't last as long as a flashlight that uses replaceable batteries, its 140 mAh power cell can be fully charged in just two hours and lasts for more than five. The Blukar EDC flashlight has different modes for various lighting needs, and the company says it should have no problem dealing with some rain or the occasional splash of water. More than 85% of over 2,500 reviewers have given it a five-star rating, with many Amazon users saying they've been satisfied with the brightness of the light.

The world is full of beautiful textures and tiny miracles invisible to the naked eye. If you consider yourself a curious person who is either into science or art, you might enjoy being able to see things at the microscopic level. Not everyone has a microscope at home, however, and even if you do, you certainly can't carry it around with you everywhere you go.

Carson's MicroMini lighted microscope gives you this experience on the go for less than $15. These keychain microscopes come in green, orange, and blue, and they offer up to 20x magnification. This isn't as powerful as a proper microscope, and you certainly won't be seeing microorganisms with it, but it does let you view the microscopic details on a tree leaf or the individual lines that make up your fingerprint. Best of all, this tiny gadget fits right on your keychain, and its light frame means you'll be hard-pressed to notice the extra weight.

The microscope even comes with built-in UV and LED flashlights, which means you'll get a clearer view of whatever you're looking at, even in dimly lit areas. Overall, it's a handy pocket gadget if you like nature — just know that it won't be doing the job of a science lab microscope.