Few things will kill your workout vibe faster than a pair of ill-fitting, hard-to-use headphones. The Jabra Elite Active 75t wireless earbuds are the best headphones for working out at the gym because they fit comfortably and will stay secure and out of your way even during rigorous workouts. The controls are easy to use, and the earbuds are resistant to sweat and water. Plus, they sound great for both music and phone calls.
We love the Jabra Elite 75t wireless earbuds because, despite being two years old, they still deliver the best combination of performance and features for the money—and they’re delightful to use. Their diminutive size makes them both comfortable and discreet, the controls are painless (literally and figuratively), they offer approximately a full workday of battery life per charge, and they sound great with music and phone calls.
Mothers-in-law can be hard to shop for, especially since everyone wants to make a good impression on them. Maybe you’ve known your mother-in-law for ages, but not that well; maybe you’ve met only once. Or maybe the two of you are super-close, but you’re still a little stumped on what to get. Fear not! Below, we’ve rounded up the very best gift ideas to show your mother-in-law that you see them—and care.
Prime Day? Really? Already? Well, not quite yet. Prime Day is still a few months away. We don’t yet know exactly when it’ll happen, though July seems likely. But it never hurts to be prepared.
Most grandparents are happiest with the gift of your presence—but a little something special would be welcome, too. Whether your grandparent is a nature lover or a homebody, a cinephile or a cook, we’ve scoured our guides and polled our colleagues to find the very best things to dazzle them.
After Apple rolled out its privacy-label requirements in the App Store, along with App Tracking Transparency in iOS, in late 2020, we reviewed 250 apps and found that most of them were tracking and sharing a lot of information about anyone using them. A year later, some apps behave a little better, and some of the worst offenders have seen a drop in the number of downloads, but the changes haven’t been revolutionary. Anyone interested in protecting their privacy online still needs to keep an eye on what their apps are up to.
If you’re anything like me, the extent of cleaning your travel mug or water bottle is a quick rinse-out, swishing the water around before dumping it out, and then just putting the mug or bottle back on the shelf.
Becoming a parent can be a wonderful and mixed bag of emotions, especially if you’re a first-timer. People can experience the transition into parenthood in so many different ways, and the best gift for a new mom is one that’s tailored to the individual. At the end of the day, you know the new mom in your life best. But here we offer a few suggestions from parents on our staff that we think will make this first Mother’s Day an even more memorable one.
Mothers come in all shapes, sizes, ages, and attitudes. Some moms run marathons, others run companies, and still others run around town, ferrying offspring from their violin lessons to tae kwon do classes to softball practice. Some still have a house full of kids; others are now empty nesters. But these mothers all have something in common: They have at least one person (be it a child, a co-parent, or an admirer) who owes them a great big thank-you—coupled with a thoughtful gift—for everything they do. Perhaps that person is you? If so, it’s time to get on it.
Ask Wirecutter, an advice column written by Annemarie Conte, explores the best approaches to buying, using, and maintaining stuff. Email your biggest product-related problems to askwirecutter@wirecutter.com.
The kitchen is the heart of the home: a place to reminisce, create, and nourish. Sometimes it’s a calm space, a place of solitude where you can find a quiet moment of respite in the morning. Other times it’s a hub of activity, bustling with scents and sounds and late-night conversation. However you use it, we want to help you get the most out of your space. Today we’ve found five deals on new kitchen gear, from the essentials to splurge-worthy extras, to help you get what you need for a little less.
A wearable fitness tracker can help you monitor your steps, strides, sleep, and more. It can also dole out doses of motivation along the way, which might nudge you toward a specific goal. Since 2015, we’ve spent more than two total months running, walking, swimming, cycling, sleeping, and, in short, living with 35 different fitness trackers day and night to assess their accuracy, ease of use, and comfort. Although no tracker perfectly recorded every metric it attempted to (including distance traveled, step counts, sleep quality, calories burned, and heart rate), we’re confident that the easy-to-use, feature-packed Fitbit Charge 5 is the best option for most people who want to use a fitness tracker to monitor their movements and take steps toward improving their health.
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.
No professional wardrobe is complete without a great-looking bag to carry all of your gear. For people who have to lug around a computer, laptop bags are more grown-up than a backpack, and they offer more storage space than a briefcase. After years of testing, these six styles are our favorites: a minimalist tote bag, a budget bag with a dedicated laptop compartment, a classic-style laptop tote that looks good both at the office and the park, a polished laptop bag ideal for work trips, a beautiful leather tote, and a splurge-worthy forever leather bag.
Smartwatches let you see who’s calling, read a text, or review any of the other dozens of kinds of notifications you might get every day without pulling out your phone—even if most people don’t need one. After researching and testing dozens of Android-compatible smartwatches, we recommend the Samsung Galaxy Watch4. It’s one of the fastest and most helpful wearables we’ve tested, and its round screen makes it look more like a traditional watch than the competition.
Smart-home devices can sometimes feel almost magical. They allow you to turn on lights without having to touch a switch, answer the front door from your bedroom (or a hotel room), and tweak your thermostat with a simple voice command. For many people, those capabilities are a convenience or a luxury. But for those who live with accessibility challenges, smart-home technology can be a powerful enabler, one that allows them to live a more independent and empowered life. Todd Stabelfeldt, CEO of C4 Database Management, is a quadriplegic and an avid smart-home user. As he puts it, “Convenience for you is independence for me.”
As people get older, many may need a support system, including family, caregivers, and a residence that has been outfitted to accommodate the common frailties of age: reduced vision, decreased mobility, increased risk of falls, and more. Smart-home devices—such as small sensors, discreet cameras, smoke alarms, and voice-activated speakers—can make everyday life safer, more convenient, and more social for older adults.
Whether you’re a first-time parent or you’re welcoming another baby into your family, a baby monitor can offer peace of mind. The best baby monitors are easy to set up and use, and they stay reliably connected. They also offer clear picture quality and sound, have batteries that will last through the night, and are sturdy enough to make it through toddlerhood. The Eufy SpaceView and Eufy SpaceView Pro meet these criteria better than any other monitors we’ve tested.
A smart sprinkler controller is like a smart thermostat for your garden or yard—it controls your watering schedule automatically so you don’t have to lift a finger. A smart controller intelligently optimizes your in-ground irrigation system by automatically adjusting to weather conditions, making it easier for you to maintain a healthy landscape while cutting water use. After four seasons of testing more than a dozen models, we continue to recommend the Rachio 3 for most people. It adjusts to real-time weather conditions the most accurately and integrates with the most smart devices, yet it remains simple to use.
We love the convenience of portable Bluetooth speakers. But for those who want a more permanent—and higher-quality—outdoor audio solution for a backyard or patio, we suggest a good pair of weatherproof outdoor speakers. The OSD Audio AP650 speakers are your best choice because they sound good, mount easily, and are built to tolerate harsh weather and ward off invasion by bugs and dust.
Heat pumps are good for your wallet—and the world.
They’re the cheapest and most efficient way to handle both heating and cooling for your home, no matter where you live. They’re also better for the environment. In fact, most experts agree they’re one of the best ways for homeowners to reduce their carbon footprint and reap the benefits of a greener future without sacrificing comfort. In other words, they’re a win-win.
Water flossers, also known as oral irrigators, cost a lot more up-front than string floss. And they can still be pretty uncomfortable to use—get ready to drool. Also, there’s no clear evidence that they’re superior to traditional floss. Yet some people really like the way the water jets feel between their teeth, and some find it’s easier to work with a wand than a piece of string. Of the 12 models we’ve tested, we recommend the Waterpik Ion, a compact traditional water flosser with a cordless charging base. It cleaned our mouths thoroughly and takes up less counter space than most of its competitors.
If you’re hanging heavy pictures, mirrors, or shelves, you need to know where your wall studs are—and the best tool we found for the job is the C.H. Hanson 03040 Magnetic Stud Finder. After 30 hours of research and testing against five other magnetic stud finders, we found the C.H. Hanson to be reliable, durable, and accurate, and we also like it because it doesn’t need batteries or any kind of calibration. While the other magnetic stud finders in our test group have only one magnet, the C.H. Hanson has two, which doubles the scanning area and reduces the time it takes to get a hit. It’s also the most durable model we looked at, by far—from what we can tell, breaking it would take some serious effort.
In our many years of testing, the ChefsChoice Trizor XV has proved to be the absolute best tool we’ve ever found for keeping kitchen knives in their ideal state: razor-sharp.
Robot vacuums never get bored or distracted, and they don’t mind cleaning every day. So with very little effort on your part, your floors can stay constantly tidy. We’ve tested dozens of robots, from cheap models that bump around randomly, up through fancy machines that empty themselves and (usually) steer around dog poop. First, consider the strong, durable, smart-enough iRobot Roomba i3 EVO.
Keeping a squirmy infant clean is a task worthy of Sisyphus—the minute you get them washed, brushed, and diapered, it’s time to start all over. But the right tools can make grooming your kid a little less of a battle. From the best diapering supplies and tiny scissors that keep sharp nails at bay, to a snot sucker that really works, a catch-all bib, and supplies for a calming bath time, here’s what our staffers use in their own homes with their own kids.
Combine chilly temperatures with a drafty house, and you could end up with high utility bills. But using electric bedding to heat your bed costs just pennies a night. We think most people will be happiest with a heated mattress pad, which traps heat a bit better. The Sunbeam Zoned Heated Mattress Pad allows you to adjust the heat of three different areas along the pad (six if you get the queen or king size), and it also adds plush comfort to your bed, with less noticeable wiring than other models. If heated mattress pads are sold out, or you want the ease of a blanket, we recommend the Sunbeam Velvet Plush Heated Blanket.
As an autistic, I always need to take my disability into account when I make consumer choices. (I prefer identity-first phrasing, so autistic or autistic person, rather than person with autism.) Something a neurotypical person may not even notice—a beep, a buzz, a scratchy tag—can overwhelm my senses. So with that in mind, I’ve come up with a list of items—some Wirecutter picks, some my personal picks—that other autistics may find useful.
With spring’s arrival, it’s time to take stock of your gardening gear. Here’s what to wear out there, from the top of your head to the tips of your toes, while you’re revitalizing your garden after the winter months.
A good sleeping pad can transform hours of tossing and turning in the wild into a decent night’s sleep. We slept on 15 different sleeping pads during our first round of testing, and we tried an additional 10 pads in our most recent round—carrying them on a total of seven car-camping and backpacking trips. We concluded that the Therm-a-Rest LuxuryMap Sleeping Pad is the best choice for car campers and the Sea to Summit Ether Light XT Insulated Air Sleeping Mat is the most supportive pad for backpackers. If you’re looking for a budget option or a sleeping pad for two people, we’ve got you covered for those, too.
