All articles
Every shortlist, guide, review, and comparison we have published, newest updates first.
Shortlist · Cleaning
A handheld vacuum does a ten-minute job: the counter after breakfast, the car seats, the stairs after the dog. The numbers that decide it are the ones makers bury — run time, bowl size, weight in the hand, charge time. Six handhelds from BLACK+DECKER, Shark and Bissell, compared on the makers' own figures.
Best of · Home office
Every pick from our two home-office shortlists — five lamps from a monitor bar to a USB gooseneck and five stands from a 6-ounce folder to a fixed riser — grouped by what is on the desk and what you do there, with the maker's key figure and the Amazon link for each.
Guide · Cleaning
Cordless vacuums are sold on a minutes figure measured in the mode you will not use, a suction figure most makers do not publish, and a weight that may or may not include the head. This guide explains which numbers to read, what they mean for an apartment or a house, and what the makers who publish honest figures say — with four machines as worked examples.
Guide · Home office
A small desk fails in a fixed order: the laptop screen is too low, so you hunch; the lamp is in the wrong place, so it glares; the keyboard has nowhere to go, so the stand comes off again. This guide fixes the three in order, with the measurements that matter and four products as worked examples — a fixed stand, a travel stand, a monitor bar and a clamp lamp that take no desk space.
Best of · Kitchen
Every pick from our two kitchen shortlists in one place — six compact air fryers from 2 to 5 quarts and six kettles from 0.8 to 1.7 liters — grouped by the situation each one suits, with the maker's key figure and the Amazon link for each.
Comparison · Charging
Both chargers have two USB-C ports and a USB-A, fold their prongs and fit a jacket pocket. One gives a single port 65 W and weighs 4.6 oz; the other gives 100 W, weighs 7.5 oz and has a screen. Which one to carry depends on one fact — the laptop's own wattage — and on what happens to the laptop when the phone is plugged in beside it, which only one of the two makers says.
Shortlist · Home office
A laptop on a desk puts the screen eight inches too low. A stand fixes that, and the only questions are how high it lifts, whether it moves, and whether you will type on the laptop while it is up — because none of them likes that. Five stands from a 6-ounce travel folder to a 3-pound block of aluminum, on the makers' lift, weight, fit and limits.
Review · Travel
Forty liters, a 17-inch laptop sleeve, straps that hide to make a duffel, water-repellent nylon, 2.2 lb and a lifetime warranty on defects, for less than most daypacks. It is inside the 22 x 14 x 9 carry-on box on American, Delta and JetBlue and is not a personal item anywhere. This review is about what 40 liters on thin straps feels like, and the one measurement Matein cannot agree on.
Guide · Storage
Storage products are returned for one reason: they do not fit. The box is taller than the gap under the bed, the canister is deeper than the shelf, the container does not go in the fridge door. This guide lists what to measure, where, and what to subtract, with the published dimensions of three boxes and a canister set as worked examples and the quarts-to-liters arithmetic the labels assume.
Comparison · Home office
A light bar sits on top of the monitor, lights the desk to 500 lux and puts nothing on the screen; a desk lamp sits on the desk, lights whatever you point it at, and costs a quarter as much. One takes no space and needs a monitor; the other takes a corner and works with a laptop. The right answer depends on what is on the desk, and this comparison uses the makers' own figures for both.
Review · Kitchen
A 6.5-quart basket Ninja rates at 5 pounds of fries or 9 pounds of wings, 1,750 W, a 450°F ceiling, six functions including dehydrate, and a nonstick basket and plate Ninja says go in the dishwasher. It is the step up from the 5-quart Pro on our compact shortlist, for a household that air-fries a main course — and it is the machine whose size Ninja's page and the listing cannot agree on.
Review · Kitchen
The Crispi is a 1,500 W heating pod that locks onto a glass container — a 6-cup one for a single serving, a 4-quart one for a tray — air-fries at up to 450°F, and then comes off so the glass goes in the fridge. It is the only air fryer we know of that doubles as food storage. This review is about what that trade costs: a pod to store, two dishes to wash, and 14.6 lb of kit in the box.
