The Best Portable Air Conditioner

Portable air conditioners aren’t as mobile as their name suggests, and they’re also one of the loudest and least efficient ways to cool a room. But if you don’t have central air, and a window AC isn’t an option, a portable AC is the next best way to beat the heat—and if that’s the case for you, we recommend the Midea Duo MAP12S1TBL. It’s quieter, more powerful, and generally more pleasant to live with than nearly any of the other two dozen portable ACs we’ve tested (and the hundreds more we’ve researched) since 2016.

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The Best Non-Contact Voltage Tester

A non-contact voltage tester is the quickest and simplest way to safely check for electrical current in a wire, outlet, switch, or old lamp that has mysteriously stopped working. It’s a useful tool that every electrician carries. And after talking to a 20-year veteran electrician and performing eight months of testing with seven leading models, we found that the Klein NCVT-3 is the best one to get.

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The Best OLED TV

If you want the best-looking TV image that money can buy, choose an OLED TV. Thanks to a panel design that’s fundamentally different from LCD TVs, OLED TVs naturally produce perfectly inky black levels, highly saturated colors, smooth motion, and superior viewing angles. In short, OLED TVs provide the best picture quality around—but they’re priced accordingly. We recommend the Samsung S95B because it delivers stellar picture quality at a price that’s very reasonable for a premium TV.

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The Best Smart Thermostat

A smart thermostat automatically adjusts your heating and cooling systems to keep you comfortable and save you money. But these are not one-size-fits-all devices. The best model for someone who hopes to eke out every last BTU of efficiency and cost savings will be very different from a thermostat for someone who just wants everything to be as simple as possible. The Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium—our pick for the best smart thermostat—falls into the first category. In addition to offering a wide array of settings to refine your home’s climate control, it has a built-in Alexa smart speaker to receive voice commands without the need for other devices. In our testing, this thermostat did the best job of keeping the whole house consistently comfortable—thanks to its savvy remote sensors and its ability to take humidity into account when adjusting the temperature. For a less complicated option, the Google Nest Learning Thermostat remains a good choice for anyone who is averse to fiddling with settings menus, since its built-in AI does most of the work for you.

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3 Deals on Wirecutter Beauty and Self-Care Picks

Plenty of brands tout the efficacy of their so-called splurge-worthy items, but that doesn’t mean they’re all worth the spend. That’s the beauty of Wirecutter—our experts have hand-picked the ultimate everyday essentials, so investing in yourself can be second nature, not a luxury.

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Fresh Sugar Lip Balm Is Expensive. But It’s Great. And It’s on Sale.

As a member of the Wirecutter Deals team who comes from a long line of coupon clippers and bargain hunters, I’m not a splurger by nature. (In fact, I’m pretty sure it’s against my DNA to pay full price for anything.) But I’m particularly stingy when it comes to products I consider basics, like dish soap, condiments—even medication. So of course, I balked at the hefty, $25 price tag on Fresh’s Sugar Lip Treatments. I distinctly remember reading about their benefits in Wirecutter’s guide and thinking to myself, “Yeah, but who on earth would spend more than three bucks on a lip balm?”

Turns out, it’s me.

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We’ve Recommended Miele Canister Vacuums for Almost a Decade. Here’s Why They’re Worth It.

Buying a good vacuum was one of those boring-but-necessary adulting chores (like going to the dentist or getting my car’s oil changed) that I knew I should do but kept putting off. Frankly, I didn’t think I could afford one. I got by with a cheap vac that was heavy and loud, didn’t suck up anything all that well, and died within a few short years. In 2014, with a toddler and two cats mucking up my apartment, I finally decided it was time to make the investment. I upgraded to a Miele canister vacuum, which Wirecutter began recommending that same year. Nearly a decade later, I’ll never go back.

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