Category: Buying Guide

After putting 10 app-connected electric coolers through 60-plus days of field testing on road trips, campsite overnights, and tailgate weekends, our team sorted the winners from the duds. A smart cooler in isn’t just a portable fridge. The best smart coolers pair reliable compressor cooling with Bluetooth or WiFi app control, temperature alerts, and battery…

If your home has rooms that feel like caves no matter how many lamps you turn on, you already know the pain point that drove our team to spend 90 days installing, measuring, and stress-testing skylights. We installed 10 of the most-searched models in real homes, including a 1990s ranch, a manufactured home in Florida,…

After three months of testing 12 silicone placemats across our dining table, our highchair, and three different restaurants, I can tell you the best silicone placemats are not all created equal. Some hold their grip on a slick highchair tray, others slide off at the slightest nudge. Some go straight into the dishwasher and come…

After 14 months of pulling sheet pans, Dutch ovens, and cast iron skillets out of ovens set anywhere from 400°F to 525°F, I can tell you the best silicone oven mitts aren’t all built the same. I burned my knuckles on three “heat resistant” pairs before finding mitts that actually lasted more than a year…

I’ve filmed more than 40 cooking videos from my home kitchen, and I can tell you the single biggest upgrade I ever made was a shotgun microphone. Built-in camera mics turn sizzling oil, knife taps, and steam hisses into a muddy mess of fan noise and autofocus whirs. After swapping in a proper directional mic,…

I spent the last three months testing and comparing six of the most popular solar tube skylights on real residential roofs, and what I found surprised me. The cheapest kit on the list actually outperformed two units that cost more than twice as much, and the premium Solatube was almost too bright for a standard…

The short answer: GE, Frigidaire, and Whirlpool consistently rank as the most reliable upright freezer brands according to Consumer Reports, Wirecutter, and long-running threads on Reddit r/Appliances. In our own hands-on testing of eight models this year, the Midea 7.1 Cu.ft Convertible stood out for combining garage-ready temperature tolerance, a reversible door, and a one-touch…

After spending three months testing solid state guitar amps across bedroom sessions, small gigs, and home recording setups, I put together this guide to help you find the right one. Whether you need a reliable practice amp or something that can handle a live stage, the best solid state guitar amps in deliver tone that…

I spent the last three months testing every Sony soundbar currently shipping, swapping units between my living room, bedroom, and a buddy’s dedicated home theater to get real-world impressions across rooms of different sizes. What I found surprised me: the gap between Sony’s entry-level 2.0ch bars and the flagship BRAVIA Theater Quad is enormous, but…