A great chef’s knife can revolutionize your daily meal prep. If your knife is comfortable to use and razor sharp, you can chop ingredients faster and with more control (and therefore more safely). Even for those who find cooking to be a chore, a quality chef’s knife might make the task feel easier. After putting in over 150 hours of research—and chopping more than 70 pounds of produce with 23 knives—we recommend the Mac Mighty MTH-80. It’s been our pick since 2013, and over the years it has proved to be dependable, sharp, comfortable to use, and a crowd favorite in our tests.
Portable induction cooktops allow you to cook or keep food warm almost anywhere you can find an outlet: the dorm, an RV, or the potluck table. A good induction cooktop should cook your food evenly, have intuitive settings, and be easy to clean. After putting in more than 60 hours of research and testing, we’re confident that the Duxtop 9100MC is the best portable induction cooktop, and a reliable extra burner for small or busy kitchens. This moderately priced model heats quickly and cooks more evenly than the competition. Its easy-to-use interface allows you to choose between a power mode for general cooking and a temperature mode for specific tasks such as frying.
An important note: If you have a pacemaker, most manufacturers recommend consulting your doctor before operating an induction burner.
Unless your carpets are subjected to marathon-levels of foot traffic, you likely don't need to buy an upright carpet cleaner. Aside from spot-cleaning major stains, one wash per year is plenty for most people, so it makes more sense to rent a machine or hire a pro. But if you want fresh-looking rugs at all times, get the Bissell DeepClean Lift-Off 66E1. We tested eight models, and this was the only one that completely cleaned up our mess.
Emergency-supply checklists are abundant across the internet, including recommendations from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (PDF), the American Red Cross, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But those lists can be intimidating in their breadth and their specificity. In reality, for the most part you can assemble a basic emergency kit out of stuff you may already own. And there’s no such thing as a single kit that’s exactly right for everyone.
If you spend most of your day typing, you shouldn’t be stuck with the mushy keyboard on your laptop or a cheap, uncomfortable desktop keyboard. Mechanical keyboards allow you to customize their looks with different keycaps and get the typing feel you prefer by choosing different switches under the keys. And compact keyboards—which nearly match the size and layout of a laptop keyboard—take up less space on your desk. Of the dozens of keyboards we’ve tested, we think the Ducky One 2 SF is the best compact mechanical keyboard for most people’s needs.
When was the last time you backed up all your important documents and photos? Last month? Last year? Never? Setting up a good backup system can seem time-consuming and intimidating, but it’s neither. Anyone can do it, and everyone should. In less than 15 minutes you can have a system that backs up your files automatically—both to an external drive and to encrypted cloud storage—without any regular action from you.
A wireless headset solves a very specific problem: You want to take or make calls from your computer or phone—maybe for hours at a time and dozens of feet away from your desk—while speaking and listening as clearly as possible over the distracting noise around you. After eight weeks of testing similar Bluetooth headsets, we think the Jabra Evolve2 65 offers the best mix of comfort, battery life, and sound quality that professionals who spend all day on the phone want.
Wireless chargers are a convenient way to juice up your phone without having to plug it in, even if they’re slower than wired chargers. And stand-style chargers are the best because, unlike horizontal pads, they allow you to use your phone while it’s charging. After 900 hours of testing since 2017, we’ve determined that the RAVPower Wireless Charging Stand (RP-PC069) is the best Qi wireless charger for smartphones because it charges phones—iPhone and Android alike—faster than the competition. It also comes with a cable and wall charger, accessories that many cheaper rivals leave out.
It was around this time last year when tens of millions of Americans suddenly started taking the coronavirus pandemic seriously. Since then, people’s lives have been upended by forced hermitages and the sad necessity of viewing every human interaction through the lens of viral peril. Mask-wearing has become quotidian for many. And so it’s no surprise that last month two of our recommendations for cloth face masks were among the 20 most-purchased Wirecutter picks (in part, no doubt, because we recently shared new filtration-efficiency lab-test findings).
During its prime, we recommended the PlayStation VR headset if you owned a PlayStation 4 and were interested in getting a taste of virtual reality—or if you wanted to play some VR games without spending the money on a gaming PC and a high-end headset like the Oculus Rift or HTC Vive. The PSVR system was easy to set up, had a solid game library, and had good enough specs to provide VR’s wow-inducing sense of immersion in alternate realities, all without requiring you to buy a $700-plus PC. But with the Playstation 5 launch in late 2020, and a lack of updates to PSVR, it’s not something we generally recommend anymore. There are more compelling, cost effective wireless options, like our main VR headset pick, the Oculus Quest 2.
While the PS5 technically supports the PSVR headset, it needs a free adapter cable for the PS4 camera, which you’ll need to order directly from Sony. This adapter allows PS5 owners to play PS4-based PSVR titles on their new consoles via the machines’ well-executed backwards compatibility. But the number of games supporting the PSVR slowed over 2020, with just a few high profile releases like Marvel’s Iron Man VR, The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners, and VR support for Star Wars: Squadrons. The latest so-called “native” PS5 games cannot use PSVR—which has led to some truly bizarre scenarios for players looking for VR experiences.
In February of 2021, PlayStation announced that a new PSVR device was in active development, and that it would connect using just one wire and use new control methods. But the release timeline for that hardware is nebulous for now.
The PSVR system is a good intro to VR gaming for PlayStation 4 owners, though it’s more limited than higher-end PC headsets. This bundle includes the required camera, two Move controllers, and two games.
The PSVR system can’t track you as you roam around a room as effectively as its competitors from Oculus and HTC can, but it is good enough to provide a fun and solid virtual reality gaming experience. You have plenty of games to choose from, including PSVR exclusives like Farpoint, Resident Evil 7 Biohazard, Marvel’s Iron Man VR and Hitman 3, as well as games like Superhot, Arizona Sunshine, and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR, which are also available on the Rift and Vive. Its camera and controllers are PlayStation accessories you may already own, and it’s easy to get into if you’re already familiar with the PlayStation user interface.
Keeping a supply of reliable respirator masks on hand will leave you with one less thing to worry about in a wildfire or other disaster that leads to poor air quality, and the masks can also be useful when you’re doing a home renovation project. After 50 hours of research and testing, we’re confident that the 3M 8516 N95 Particulate Respirator is the best disposable respirator mask and the 3M Rugged Comfort Quick Latch Half Facepiece Reusable Respirator 6501QL/49488 is the best reusable respirator when used with N95 or P100 filters.
If you don’t have central air, and a window AC isn’t an option, get the LG LP1419IVSM portable air conditioner—the quietest and most efficient unit we’ve found after researching over a hundred portable air conditioners and testing more than a dozen.
As more people’s work and personal lives go digital, online privacy and security become increasingly important. A virtual private network, or VPN, can be a useful part of your security toolkit. But the industry is riddled with false promises and shady businesses. After sorting through dozens of VPNs and reviewing six security audits, we think the best option for most people is Mullvad, an open-source VPN that is not only trustworthy and transparent but also fast and reliable.
If you’ve ever wished pooping could be a faster or more pleasant experience, you may like having a toilet stool. “Toilet angles aren’t well aligned with how the anus and rectum [are] designed to be positioned when it’s time to have a bowel movement,” said Dr. Sophie Balzora, a clinical associate professor of medicine at NYU’s Grossman School of Medicine. The ideal pooping position is a squat—a posture that toilet stools help simulate by raising a person’s feet while they’re sitting on the toilet. This posture helps to straighten the colon and provide a smoother channel for poop to exit the body. (You can read more about how and whether it works here.) The best toilet stool for you depends on your style and budget.
Many cheap office chairs make you feel like you’ve been crammed into a torturous economy seat on a cross-country flight, but quality office chairs upgrade you to first class—they’re designed to support your body comfortably for the long haul. We’ve researched dozens of office chairs, interviewed four ergonomics experts, and asked test panelists with a variety of body types to sit in deliberation for over 175 collective hours. And since 2015, we’ve found that the Steelcase Gesture is the best office chair for most people.
A smart doorbell camera allows you to see who’s on the other side of your door, even when you aren’t home, so you can weed out guests who don’t come bearing Girl Scout cookies. We recommend the Arlo Essential Video Doorbell (Wired) because it delivers fewer false alerts than any video doorbell we tested, with a subscription plan that can distinguish among people, animals, cars, and packages. It also shows a more complete, head-to-toe view in front of your doorway, includes a built-in siren to scare away intruders, and has an internal battery in case the power goes out.
When you’re playing fast-paced first-person shooters and complex strategy games on your PC, you can’t beat the accuracy of a keyboard and mouse. But a gamepad is still a great addition to any gaming PC if you play platforming, puzzle, or retro games, or if you’re more comfortable with a controller. Microsoft’s latest Xbox Wireless Controller—the same one you’d buy for an Xbox Series X or S—is the best controller you can buy for PC gaming because it’s comfortable and supported by most games.
Lots of laptops cost less than $500, but it’s hard to find a cheap one that doesn’t totally suck. We’ve researched and tested hundreds of cheap Windows laptops and Chromebooks over the years to find decent models, and we also have advice to help you shop smart when prices fluctuate and our picks go out of stock.
We’ve driven for hundreds of hours with more than 50 phone mounts in multiple cars—including 20 hours as a Lyft driver, picking up and dropping off passengers on unfamiliar roads—and we’re sure the iOttie iTap Magnetic 2 has the best combination of safety, convenience, and stability for holding your phone on the road.
If you spend most of your day typing or coding, a mechanical keyboard is a worthwhile upgrade over a cheaper, less comfortable keyboard. After spending months testing 19 of the most promising options, we found that the Varmilo VA87M is the best tenkeyless mechanical keyboard thanks to its excellent build quality and compact, minimalist design. It’s also available with a ton of switch options and colorful high-quality keycaps to match your preference.
Foam rolling: These days, it seems like everybody’s doing it. A growing body of research and bodywork pros—physical therapists, massage therapists, and personal trainers alike—extol the soft-tissue benefits of self-massage for improvements in muscular flexibility and reduction in stiffness and even pain. Gyms and PT centers are strewn with them, but how do you know what products are best for at-home use? To find out, we went shopping for you, whittling hundreds of options to a top-selling selection of the most popular roller types, and enlisting a cadre of experts and their muscles for over 45 hours of kneading and compressing. The finding: The AmazonBasics High-Density Round Foam Roller 36″ delivers the goods and proves you don’t have to spend a lot to get relief.
If you’ve ever arrived home only to discover you left the garage door open all day, then you should get a smart garage-door opener controller. These small devices connect to your existing garage-door opener, and they allow you to open or close your garage door from anywhere, or to check on the door’s status, using an app or even a voice assistant like Amazon Alexa. The Tailwind iQ3 Smart Automatic Garage Controller has the best hardware of any controller we tested, and its unique location technology triggers it to securely open your door when you arrive home.
A good kitchen scale just might be your secret weapon for consistent cookies, perfectly risen bread, or a lofty souffle. It gets your baking down to a science, offering precision that rivals the best measuring cups and spoons. After years of research and testing, we’re confident that the Escali Primo Digital Scale is the best. It’s among the fastest and most accurate scales we tested, and it remains powered on for longer than most others before automatically shutting off.
Every cloud backup service we tested is a pain to use for one reason or another, but we still recommend using one. A good backup system starts with a local backup, but it should end with a subscription to an online backup service. After years of testing, we think Backblaze is the easiest to use and the best cloud backup service for most people.
Modern video game consoles offer sophisticated social experiences, and they’re designed to be connected to the internet just about all the time in order to deliver them. Like other always-connected devices, including phones and TVs, the Sony PlayStation 5, Microsoft Xbox Series X and S, and Nintendo Switch all gather data and share your various activities with your friends—and advertising partners.
Soundbars were supposed to make TV-watching better and easier. The idea was that, as TVs became slimmer, with less room for decent internal speakers, soundbars could offer better sound without making you deal with the complexity of wiring up a half-dozen speakers and navigating the often-confusing menus of an AV receiver. But many of today’s soundbars can be even more challenging to use than state-of-the-art home theater systems. Although there’s no way to successfully troubleshoot every soundbar problem, we compiled a list of fixes that have worked for us. We also consulted a couple of soundbar makers to find out what the most common setup mistakes are and how to fix them.
As Longfellow might have said: Into each life spent commuting, running errands, or watching a kid’s soccer game, some rain must fall. We spent two and a half months researching 134 raincoats and testing 30—with a panel of six testers in a range of shapes and sizes—to find seven of the best rain jackets in a wide variety of sizes, styles, colors, and lengths to keep you dry and comfortable.
You probably need to trim your dog’s nails every four to six weeks, and—if your pet will tolerate the sound and feel—using a nail grinder is a method that makes it all but impossible to accidentally cut your dog. After testing six options, we like the Dremel 7300-PT 4.8V Pet Nail Grooming Tool because it is safe, cordless, and quiet, and lets you swap out grinding and polishing tips as needed.
For a few bucks, a good USB car charger can charge your phone and other devices faster than the port that came in your car. After testing more than 60 models, we’ve determined that the best car charger is the dual-port Nekteck PD 45W Type-C Car Charger. You can fast-charge phones, tablets, and laptops on its USB-C port and simultaneously charge a second phone on its USB-A port. No other charger offers as much power for a better price.
A good set of dry food storage containers will keep your ingredients fresh longer and your cupboards and counters organized and tidy. After more than 17 hours of researching and testing dry storage containers, we found that Rubbermaid Brilliance Pantry Food Storage Containers were the clear winner of all the models we tested. They’re durable, tight sealing, and available in a number of convenient sizes.
Handheld vacuums can go where bigger vacuums can’t. They make it easy to ferret out crumbs from between couch cushions, or dirt from under car seats. We’ve looked at 149 different hand vacuums over more than 100 hours of research and testing since 2013, and we think the Black+Decker 20V Max Lithium Pivot BDH2000PL is the best hand vacuum for most people.
We surveyed more than 500 people, bought and tested 40 varieties of toilet paper over four months, and then had 10 panelists use and rate our nine finalists to find the one that could best satisfy the needs of most people. That toilet paper is Cottonelle Ultra Comfort Care.
At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is simultaneously two seconds and a hundred years ago, toilet paper was a hot commodity: You could barely find it in stock, and when you did, you bought what you could, even if it was the industrial, single-ply kind that practically disintegrated while still on the roll. Now that the panic has subsided and store shelves are once again bursting with velvety-soft ribbons made of clouds and babies’ bottoms, shoppers are falling into three camps: those who grab whatever seems reasonably priced, those who buy their favorite brand (regardless of cost), and those who obsessively attempt to cut through the marketing tactics of ply, sheets per roll, and rolls per pack to discern what’s an actual deal.
Hydration is the only promise a sheet mask can keep, though even that might be a reach, according to chemist Michelle Wong, PhD, who runs the skin-care blog Lab Muffin. Despite claims you might read on the packaging, “sheet masks will not cure anything,” said Wong, who is transparent when she reviews gifted samples or uses affiliate links, samples, and sponsored content on her site.
Using a smart plug is the cheapest, easiest way to smarten up any non-smart device. Just plug one into any standard electrical outlet, add a lamp, fan, or other on/off device, set it up with an app, and—boom—now you’re making magic. Smart plugs can make your life a bit easier—not to mention more fun—and they can be a crucial aid for those who have difficulty reaching light switches or turning inline rotary light switches. We recommend the Wyze Plug because it works really well on its own, as well as when paired with other devices through Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and IFTTT (If This Then That). And even though the Wyze Plug is inexpensive, it doesn’t sacrifice any features. Whether you’re home or away, you can turn it on and off, have it trigger at set or random times, or have it turn other smart devices on and off (or vice versa).
If you want basic light bulbs that look great and will save you money in the long run, there’s no reason not to choose LED bulbs—they look as good as incandescents and are far more energy-efficient. We recommend Cree’s Exceptional Light Quality line of A19 bulbs. For general-purpose lighting, look for soft white LED bulbs, available in 60 W and 40 W versions. And for a whiter, cooler light for working, get Cree’s daylight LED bulbs, also in 60 W and 40 W versions. The Cree bulbs also function well with dimmer switches, neither flickering nor buzzing, and their color accuracy brings out the best in your decor, furniture, and food, improving the ambiance of your entire home.
To offset the chill in a drafty room or to give your home’s heating system a little boost, you may need a space heater. We’ve researched more than 100 models and tested 67 since 2011, and the Vornado VH200 is the best space heater for most people. A lot of space heaters can make you feel like you’re sitting in front of a hair dryer, but our pick (and other Vornado heaters we tried) warmed an entire room faster and more comfortably than everything else we’ve tested.
Hello and a belated welcome to 2021, readers. Wirecutter’s staff lives all over the US, and consequently we’re intimately familiar with the range of winter weather you might be seeing. Wherever you are, I hope you’ve been staying cozy!
If you regularly need to move large files between computers or want a travel backup for your laptop, you should get a speedy portable SSD. They’re more expensive than portable hard drives, but because they have no moving parts, they’re inherently faster and more durable. After researching 17 new portable SSDs and testing the seven most promising candidates, we found that the updated 1 TB Western Digital My Passport SSD offers the best mix of affordability, speed, and lengthy warranty for most people.
