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, the 75% Epomaker TH80 Pro and the 65% Epomaker TH66 Pro are the best compact mechanical keyboards for most people’s needs.
Today’s toaster ovens are like Mini Me versions of full-size ovens, and they’re useful for so much more than making toast. They preheat in just a few minutes and can do everything from reheating leftovers to baking a cake. Larger toaster ovens can even roast a beautiful, golden-brown chicken.
Some toaster ovens (ones with convection technology, like our larger pick) can even work with air frying recipes, though that may require some adjustments. But if you’re looking to do a lot of air frying in your toaster oven, you may want to check out our separate guide to air fryer toaster ovens.
At some point, most kids need access to headphones, whether it’s for school, travel, or simply to save an adult’s sanity.
It can be tempting to give children a pair of hand-me-down grown-up headphones, but that isn’t the best option: Not only are the larger size and increased weight less comfortable for younger kids, but the unregulated loudness levels of most adult headphones can lead to permanent hearing damage.
Instead, we recommend that you get a good pair of volume-limiting kids headphones, and we have several picks for different uses.
Over-the-range (OTR) microwaves are not notably better than good countertop models. But one of these can save you some space, while doing double-duty as a basic range hood. The GE JVM6175 is a basic OTR microwave with better controls and an easier-to-use interface than most. We also found that it heats a bit more evenly than most other OTR models we tested.
For all the popularity of pod-shaped air fryers, we've always found that convection toaster ovens, which use the same technology, can cook a wider variety of foods more evenly, if a little more slowly. But now, more companies are offering the best of both worlds in “air fryer toaster ovens,” amped-up convection toaster ovens with extra-powerful fans that produce crispy results in a shorter time. After testing dozens of models, we’ve concluded that the Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro is the only one that’s both an excellent air fryer and an excellent toaster oven—but it’s pricey.
I’ve been in a lot of professional sound booths. I started my career as an on-air radio DJ in Philadelphia and for the last 20 years have have been a professional voice actor in Los Angeles, a job I squeeze into my busy schedule because I love it. I nearly always see a pair of Sony MDR-7506 headphones lying around.
If you’ve ever scrambled out the door with your phone’s battery in the red, you know that power is precious, and the faster you can get it, the better. The Anker PowerPort III Nano is the best option for charging any phone fast: It's tiny and inexpensive, and it can get a fully drained phone battery to more than 50% full in half an hour.
USB-C chargers can top up phones faster than older USB-A models can, and they work with both iPhones and Android devices. Most phones, handheld game consoles, and other devices that charge via USB-C come with a compatible charging cable, but otherwise you may have to buy a cable separately.
Early Black Friday sales—shopped judiciously—can be a good opportunity to get a jump on your holiday shopping.
Best Buy is leading the charge with its Early Black Friday Deals for Everyone sale, which promises deeply discounted TVs, laptops, appliances, and more for My Best Buy members and non-members alike starting today. We’ll see additional—and possibly better—markdowns from Best Buy on Black Friday itself, but if you’re looking to avoid the sales brouhaha on the big day, early shopping is the way to go.
The celebratory ritual of carving a beautifully roasted turkey or an impressive beef roast brings people together, and in many homes, the tools you use to slice and fill plates for friends and family during the holidays are just as important as the meal itself.
You might associate grippy socks with toddlers, but they’re actually great for adults too. I’ve used them during labor and after giving birth, while in pilates class, and during a recent stint of physical therapy where keeping my feet planted on the floor was important.
There’s a specific brand of person who loves falling into the rhythmic lull of a long, sweaty run. Whatever type of runner is on your list—from avid marathoners to casual joggers to newbies kicking off their first Couch to 5K plan—they’ll likely appreciate something practical, something to aid conditioning or recovery, or something jovial to celebrate the practice itself.
If you’ve procrastinated on holiday shopping, you are not alone. And, you are definitely not doomed. We’ve gathered a wide array of pleasing and practical gifts—for anyone from grandma to your BFF—that you can either have delivered straight to their doorstep in about two days, pick up curbside in minutes, or send to their inbox in seconds. Deep breath. You’ve got this.
Whether the person you’re shopping for is an established bae or a recent fling, a long-distance lover or a live-in partner, it can be uniquely challenging to find a gift that expresses the right level of intimacy within an appropriate budget. So we’ve pulled from the very best of our staff’s testing and our own favorite things—ranging from silly to sweet to serious—to ensure there’s something here to delight your girlfriend (or any other special someone).
Becoming a parent can be a wonderful time and a mixed bag of emotions. People transition to parenthood in many different ways, experiencing everything from exhaustion to elation (sometimes in the same hour). Between struggles with latching, nighttime shifts, and that postpartum pelvic floor, early motherhood can take a toll on one’s body, sleep, and sense of self—all while bringing delight, wonder, and boundless love. It’s a time when a mom really needs support. If you’re looking for ways to celebrate, pamper, and lovingly help during those strenuous early days, we’ve gathered gift suggestions from parents on our staff that will delight any new mom.
You can answer calls, send and receive texts, and give commands to a voice-activated assistant on your phone, but sometimes it’s easier to do those things on your wrist—which is where a smartwatch comes in. While the Apple Watch is the gold standard for smartwatches, it works only with Apple's iPhones.
If you’re one of the billions of people using an Android phone, you have a lot more smartwatch options, but most of the watches we’ve encountered are too slow, bulky, or lacking in features to be worth buying. We’ve tested dozens of smartwatches for Android phones, including all the latest models, and the Samsung Galaxy Watch6 is the best option for most Android phone users.
Giving your baby a bath can be one of the most special times of your day—or, it can be a source of major stress, especially if your wet and slippery tot doesn’t like the water.
After 25 hours of testing 10 baby bathtubs and bath seats with our own infants, we’ve determined that though you don’t need a specialized tub or seat to bathe your kiddo, having one can make the task a lot easier, more fun, and comfortable for everyone involved. Our favorite baby bathtub is the Fisher-Price 4-in-1 Sling ’n Seat Tub; it’s easy to use, feels safe, and will fit a rapidly growing baby for longer than most.
Wi-Fi security cameras let you keep tabs on packages outside your home, pets on the couch, and even prowlers raiding your refrigerator. We’ve done hundreds of hours of research and testing on outdoor, indoor, hardwired, wireless, and doorbell Wi-Fi cameras, searching for the best models to fit a variety of homes, budgets, and security needs. If you want to know what’s going on when you’re away, one of our camera recommendations will do the job.
After checking into a motel in Berkeley, California, many years ago, my husband and I began a well-rehearsed ritual. We left our two young kids strapped in their strollers, pulled back the bedding, and scanned the surface of the mattress. Poking into the deep seams of the mattress’s pillow-top padding, I found what we feared: a multitude of brown-black flecks.
Bedbug stains.
The motel manager offered to move us to a different room, but instead we drove to a relative’s house that night. That experience taught me that it’s worthwhile to take two minutes to check the mattress before you unpack. A 2016 survey of 100 US hotels, conducted by Orkin, found that 82 percent of them had been treated for bedbugs in the previous year; bedbugs have also been found on airplanes, cruise ships, and public transportation in recent years.
Don’t let bedbugs, or the fear of them, ruin your travel. Despite the statistics, the chance of encountering bedbugs in any given hotel room is “pretty darn unlikely,” said Michael Potter, then a professor of entomology at the University of Kentucky. (I interviewed Potter and the other experts in this article in 2019.) Here are some simple steps you can take to make sure you don’t run into bedbugs on your trip.
Know your enemy
In a survey of more than 2,000 hotel visitors conducted by Potter and two other University of Kentucky entomologists in 2015, fewer than one in three could correctly identify an adult bedbug.
Look at guides published by the Environmental Protection Agency, which show the size and appearance of bedbugs at different stages in their life cycle. Bedbugs are flat, wingless, and slightly teardrop-shaped, with tan, brown, or reddish-brown coloring. They range in size from 1 mm (nymphs) to 5–7 mm (adults), and their eggs look like tiny, white grains of rice.
Bedbugs leave behind fecal stains of digested blood, which resemble “little black spots that look like they’ve been made by fine felt-tipped marker,” according to Dini Miller, a professor of entomology at Virginia Tech. (These were the spots I discovered in the Berkeley motel.)
Inspect the area (but don’t tear the room apart)
Whether you’ve checked into a luxury resort, a modest motel, or an Airbnb apartment, spend a few minutes inspecting the beds and surrounding areas for signs of bedbugs.
Pull back the sheets and look closely at the surface, sides, and seams of the mattress near the headboard. “That tends to be the hottest area of the bed” for bug activity, said Potter. Miller suggests running a sticky lint roller over the areas you’re checking, so you can pick up any potential evidence.
Pack a small, strong flashlight to help you see into crevices and behind the headboard if possible. (We recommend the ThruNite Archer 2A V3 in our guide to the best flashlights.) “We know in hotels that bedbugs like to get behind the headboard. The reason for that is it’s the least disturbed area,” Miller said.
Though small, bedbugs and their fecal spots are visible to the naked eye, so if you don’t find anything after a cursory inspection, you can rest easy. “I’m not going to yank the whole bed apart, flip the mattress,” Potter said. Miller agreed: “If you don’t see anything, nothing’s there.”
Bites or skin reactions alone are not a reliable sign of bedbugs. It can sometimes take several hours for a person’s skin to react to an insect bite, so mosquito or sand fly bites from, say, dinner may not show up till morning, Miller said.
“You can’t look at a bite that I have, and a bite that you have, and even say that they’re the same thing, because everybody’s immune response is so individual,” Miller said.
Potter says it's prudent to store your suitcase on a hard surface, such as a dresser or luggage rack, which bedbugs are unlikely to be able to reach. If you’re staying for only a night or two, avoid unpacking your clothing or spreading items around the room. Packing cubes can help you stay organized and access your clothing and belongings without having to remove everything from your suitcase. (We recommend the Eagle Creek Pack-It Reveal Cube Set.)
Miller suggests using a lint roller to check for bugs on your suitcase as well, especially after air travel. “Think about your suitcase and how many other bags it meets on your trip,” she said.
Simple and solidly constructed, this three-cube set keeps your bag organized. The cubes can help you avoid needing to fully unpack while traveling, which limits potentially exposing your items to bedbugs.
This super-sticky paper picks up debris with just a few swipes. Roll it over your suitcase, or along the surface of a bed, to check for evidence of bedbugs.
If you’re in a hotel and find evidence of bedbugs, alert the staff right away and request a new room, either on a different floor or several rooms away. If you’re in a vacation rental or Airbnb, you may have fewer options. A representative from Airbnb said the company has a 24-hour customer service line, which can help with refunds and rebooking in the event that an issue like bedbugs arises. The company also advises contacting the host, and taking photos of bug evidence or bites for documentation.
If you think you’ve been exposed, you can take steps to prevent bringing any hitchhikers home. Jeff White, an entomologist and owner of a pest control training and consulting company, suggested keeping a few large garbage bags in your car to store your luggage in. Once home, carefully inspect the inside and outside of your suitcase (the lint roller can help). Run your clothing and other dryer-safe belongings through a hot cycle in the dryer, which will kill any bugs and eggs (washing is unnecessary).
It’s worth remembering that bedbugs don’t pose the public-health risk of some other pests. “Don’t let bedbugs take over your mind,” Miller said. “The housefly landing on your salad is way more dangerous than having a bedbug walk across your bed.”
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 a more polished, grown-up option than a backpack, and they offer more storage space than a briefcase.
If you love cold drinks, a countertop ice maker might make your day. These machines tend to be more alike than different. But whether you want to chill a tumbler of lemonade, fill a cocktail shaker, or ice enough drinks for a party, the straight-forward Magic Chef MCIM22/HNIM27 and the compact Igloo IGLICEBSC26 do the job well.
A notebook is more than just a practical tool. It can be a source of joy, a covetable item that turns an ordinary, everyday task—note-taking, journaling, task-planning, brainstorming, or doodling—into a sublime experience.
Upgrading from a cheap notebook to a high-quality one usually costs just a couple more cents per page (or about $2 to $5 overall), and you’re worth it.
