To become aware of your indoor air quality index is to enter a realm where the invisible becomes something you can never unsee. Until I wrote about my quest for good air in my Brooklyn apartment, I didn’t know air quality monitors even existed. Now I couldn’t live without them.
We humans evolved to respond to changes in temperature, precipitation, and wind. Bad air is silent and often odorless, but long-term exposure to certain vapors, particulates, and high levels of CO2 can impact cognition and make us vulnerable to certain cancers, as well as heart and respiratory diseases. Reading the daily temperature and looking at weather forecasts prepares us for what’s to come, but checking your air quality might be the biggest step you make in improving your health.
These air quality monitors were tested in two locations: a 130-plus-year-old Brooklyn apartment with a gas stove in a building that is undergoing construction, and a cabin in the Maine woods that uses an electric stove. There were two cats, a dog, and two people during the entire testing period. I had various air purifiers running at all times. Neither location had central air or HVAC with MERV filters, nor did they have over-stove exhaust fans that could remove fumes to the outside. In both locations, it was cooking on the stovetop that produced the worst air. These monitors were used both on days with excellent outdoor air and days when air quality was in the moderate zone, above 50 on the US Air Quality Index.
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Being a side sleeper can be challenging. You have to constantly flip and flop for the right position and often use several pillows to support your body’s pressure points. Body pillows are the most obvious solution, long enough to cuddle fully while still supporting your limbs.
I chose body pillows in a range of shapes and styles, from traditional, long, rectangular body pillows to pregnancy pillows in a variety shapes to see which style worked best for a strict side-only sleeper like me. I tested each of the pillows for a week while sleeping and lounging to see how the fill changed and moved over time and which pillow worked best for a side sleeper’s unique needs. There are tons of choices—including different fill, firmness, and shape—but these are our picks.
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What to Look For
As a side sleeper, you’ll want a pillow that’s long enough to provide support between your arms and pressure points like between the knees. While firmness and softness are a matter of personal preference, you often want a body pillow that strikes the right balance, to provide support without being too heavy or firm for the limbs that rest underneath the pillow. If you’re just looking for a pillow to hug while you sleep, something lighter and softer is best. But if you have joint or spinal pain, something a bit more firm with more support is best. You’ll also want to think about which pillow shape will support which part of your body best, depending on your needs. I’m a strict side sleeper, but I toss and turn between both sides, so pillows with support on either side were tested too. I also tend to curl into a more fetal position, so I wanted something that had enough width to fully wrap my legs and arms around.
While many head pillows and mattresses favor memory foam, depending on the foam’s denseness, it can feel too heavy for a side sleeper whose limbs go underneath the pillow. Polyester or other synthetic filling is often the most plush and malleable but may not provide enough support. Many have a mixture of both or shredded memory foam, which can provide structure while still being soft enough to sink into. This depends on personal preference and need, but fill type is something to be aware of when looking for the perfect side-sleeper body pillow.
A standard body pillow that’s long enough to provide full-length support for the body is ideal, giving enough room to stretch out or cuddle in various positions. Body pillows in U or C shapes can provide more overall support and are ideal for pregnant people or those with back or leg issues, but can often make the sleeper run hot because of all of the surrounding material. But ultimately, the preferred shape is largely dependent on what parts of the body you want most supported in the side-sleeping position.
Entry or access codes, in my opinion, are one of the best parts of smart locks. Not all smart locks come with one, but most have an accessory keypad you can add on and place wherever you want on the exterior of your home. While a digital lock lets you set a single code, a smart lock app will let you create multiple codes and assign them to certain people, and set limits on the code use, so you can give a code to your dog walker or your favorite neighbor and know when they use it to enter your home. It makes it easy to revoke codes without needing your entire household to adapt to a code change.
Some locks, like the Ultraloq U-Bolt Pro ($109) and Schlage Encode Plus ($319), come with a keypad built into the front of the lock, but others require purchasing the add-on keypad. If codes are a key feature for you, prioritize a lock with an attached keypad so you don’t have to spend extra cash, or worry about installing two things instead of one.
Do You Want Biometric or Keyless Entry?
The real future is no keys or codes at all! There are a few locks that let you unlock your front door with a press of your fingerprint. Some, like the Ultraloq mentioned above, include the fingerprint reader built into the lock itself, while some have external keypads, like the Abode Lock, with a biometric reader on it. I like using it as a one-touch open if I don’t have my keys handy, and it’s certainly faster than typing a code.
Most smart locks do have a keyhole, and I’d recommend sticking to ones that offer it. Smart locks run on batteries (more on this below), so it’s good to have the battery-free backup of a physical key if you run out of battery power. (Locks will alert you about low battery life in advance, but I’m a procrastinator, so I know how this story will go.) Some locks use your phone’s geofencing to alert it to unlock your door, so if your phone dies, you could also lose the convenience you’re looking for and need a separate access option.
Do You Have Other Entry Points?
If you’re interested in getting a smart lock on a door without a deadbolt, or even a sliding door, good news! There are options for you too. Schlage, for example, makes the Encode Level ($310) designed for doors without an existing deadbolt. Instead, it adds a keyhole in the doorknob along with a keypad. You can also add smart home control for your garage with MyQ’s Smart Garage Door Openers (8/10, WIRED Recommends), and you can add a keypad to it.
What About Battery Life? Hidden Fees?
All those smart tricks need a power source: batteries. Most smart locks promise a battery life of at least a few months, if not the better part of a year, but performance depends on how hard the lock is working—more frequent requests and automations will naturally drain the battery a little faster over time. Either way, be prepared to charge or replace batteries in your smart lock. Some have ways to juice up the lock if it’s completely dead—the Ultraloq U-Bolt Pro, for example, has a hidden MicroUSB port at the bottom if it needs juice in a pinch.
Some locks also have features hidden behind subscription fees. The Abode comes to mind for this—it offers notifications that your lock was activated, but it doesn’t clarify if it was unlocked or locked. You have to sign up for one of Abode’s subscription plans for that perk, and it’s also the only way to use it with other smart home devices. This isn’t super common with smart locks—Abode is also a smart home security company, so its subscription fee works with several other products beyond the locks—but it’s worth keeping an eye out.
You need to fold the fitted sheet carefully to create nice clean lines. I like taking a few seconds to create pointed corners out of my fitted sheet before I start folding; you can use the corner seams to find the corner, and flatten it out for a sharper corner than you’d usually get when you fold fitted sheets.
You can do this method super quickly, but taking a second to press out the fabric nice and flat at each step to get a sharp line on the sides and less air (and loose fabric) in the middle will get you closer to a perfect rectangle than a quick fold will. One editor even uses an iron on her sheets to get them nice and flat.
Also, cut yourself some slack! Keep in mind the fabric of the sheets that you’re folding. More structured sheets like percale can be a little easier to hold in place as you fold them, while softer sheets like bamboo and synthetic nylon can feel like you’re trying to make a shape out of water. Still, with a little patience you can get a pretty solid square shape, or square-enough if you’re impatient and still have six more sets of sheets to fold like I do.
Beyond the Shelf Pile
Photograph: Nena Farrell
If you still hate how your sheets look no matter how you fold them, you might want to try a storage bags or bins for your sheets. These are handy for storing sheets under the bed if your home doesn’t have a linen closet, or for storing away off-season sheets.
You can also save the dust bag to save your sheets in, but not all sheets come with dust bags, and some dust bags are clearly only designed to fit the machine-pressed sheets inside of them. (I do love Quince’s dust bag, though.) You can also replicate this experience by stuffing all of the sheets into a single pillowcase, which is an easy way to keep them all together. But they won’t stay nicely folded in either bag.
The Best Sheets Storage
The best sheets storage is $2. I’m serious. I added three of these Ikea storage bags to an order and was surprised how much I love them. They’re the perfect size for two sets of thick flannel sheets, or you could squeeze three sets of lighter bamboo or cotton sheets in there.
Most folks I asked said they have about three sets of sheets, so one bag is a good size if you have two sheets to store and one to put on your bed. And they’re $2! Buy a dozen of them for your whole home! Or buy six and only spend 12 dollars! They’re a little too small for a fluffy comforter or pillow but could handle a single throw blanket.
Great Sheets or Blanket Storage
The Company Store’s storage bags are gorgeous and come in a ton of sizes, so you can pick one for your sheets, pillows, or comforters. I easily fit four sets of my bulkier linen sheets inside of it with a little room to spare (though not enough for a fifth set) and have used it to store a comforter, too. I like that it opens from the side halfway down so I can see into most of the bag without jostling the components, and has a little label spot so I can write in what kind of sheets or bedding is inside.
The Container Store makes a similar bag that’s a little cheaper—the Underbed Zippered Storage Bag ($25)—which I also liked for sheets, but the material on the Company Store’s was a little nicer, and I like that I can get multiple sizes for various rooms but have all the storage bags coordinate. Both have handles and label spots, and can fit larger bedding.
Storage to Skip
I used vacuum storage bags for my sheets while I was moving, but I’ll never use them again. Why? All my sheets smelled like awful plastic coming out of the vacuum bags. They were all clean before going into the bag, but I wanted to wash every single set before sleeping on them again. Plus, vacuum bags can be surprisingly heavy and end up in weird, unwieldy shapes after you suck all the air out. Choose a fun storage bag instead, I beg you!
My summertime sadness is waking up all night because I am too damn hot. Nothing makes me miserable like the heat, especially at night. Hot nights are unfortunately the price I pay for skipping winter down here in Southern California, but some folks are just hot sleepers no matter the temperature or where they live. Heat can adversely affect your sleep quality, which can affect your health, so it’s important to stay cool at nighttime; if you’re not about to splurge on a cooling mattress, it might be worth considering cooling sheets.
But what makes a good cooling sheet? What exactly is a cooling sheet? These bed sheets typically improve airflow, allowing your body to dissipate heat better than traditional cotton sheets. Linen is a popular choice and is quite breathable, whereas other materials have moisture-wicking and temperature-regulation properties. After sleeping on nearly every sheet for weeks, I’ve concluded that linen and cotton percale make some of the best cooling sheets. But if you want a softer material (or hate percale like me), there are other options too. (All the prices are for queen size.)
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What Are Cooling Sheets?
There’s a lot of terminology thrown around in the world of cooling sheets and cooling mattresses. Temperature regulating! Airflow! Moisture wicking! Phase-change material! Most of the time, these features come back to how breathable the sheets are. Breathability means moisture can better evaporate, and “temperature-regulating” usually means the sheets are breathable enough to release the heat and moisture from your body.
What makes sheets breathable? Cotton, flax linen, and bamboo have great breathability, but not all sheets are made equally, so material alone isn’t a guarantee. Weave, as in percale’s one-over-one threads versus sateen’s three-over-one, and weight (including thread count) of the bedding comes into play. Higher thread counts are less breathable, and tighter weaves will be less breathable too. The yarn within the fabric is also important, as well as how twisted it is—a higher twist makes for a smoother, cooler feel to the fabric, while a loose twist isn’t as smooth and can trap heat.
Some companies treat sheets with something called phase-change materials, or PCMs, which are substances that absorb and release energy to either heat or cool an area. “PCMs create a microclimate,” says Karen Leonas, a professor of textile sciences at the Wilson College of Textiles at North Carolina State University. Excess body heat is absorbed by these materials and then released to the body when it’s cool.
These treatments can raise the price of cooling sheets, but they’re not super popular yet, and it’s hard to determine how well incorporated it is into the fabric. “PCMs go through thermal cyclic testing and have shown to last a long time,” Leonas says. “If this is a surface treatment, there is the possibility that some of the microcapsules will be lost due to abrasion.” Parima Ijaz, CEO of Pure Parima agrees and says these treatments sometimes only last up to 10 washes. There’s only a handful of sheets on the market that tout their use of PCMs, and our guide focuses on breathable materials and weaves rather than these treatments. It’s worth noting that PCMs will last much longer on a foam mattress, according to Leonas. If you’re still sweating at night after switching to cooling sheets, try a cooling mattress.
Humans have been steaming food since the Stone Age, but it’s an underrated and underutilized method in modern American kitchens. Steaming is simple and effective; pop a wide array of foods like veggies, fish, and dumplings into the steamer of your choosing, let the water steam up, and a complete meal cooks in minutes while barely dirtying a dish. Every steamer I tested that made it into this guide will give you a good steam. Each may function better for specific needs, however. These are my favorite food steamers.
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How We Tested Steamers
Here’s how I tested this panoply of steamers, which all differ in capabilities, materials, and price: I cooked an array of frozen dumplings, frozen tamales, veggies, and fish (I used tilapia as an affordable, basic white fish). These are four of the most popular everyday foods to steam. For the small steamers like the basket and collapsible styles, I opted not to bother cooking the fish. If those are the styles that best suit your cooking needs, then I am safely assuming you are using other methods to cook fish.
As I’ve shown, some steamers are better for steaming whole meals, some are better for just a casual dim sum lunch, and others can do it all. I measured the amount of time the items took to steam. In terms of functionality, I cooked with each gadget several times to test their durability and which types of foods may be better suited for each one. I also weighed whether certain materials like clay or bamboo steamed certain foods better or not.
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Best Electric Steamer
Did your new air fryer change the way you approach cooking? Well, the Buydeem steamer may be your next go-to kitchen gadget. It’s lightweight, compact, simple, unbelievably cute, and dare I say, fun. The design contains a water waste system so that the moisture from the food has somewhere to go without contaminating the clean water that’s getting ready to steam up. The water inlet makes it convenient to refill the steamer basin without having to move the whole base to the faucet. Each piece is lightweight, making it easy to clean and move around.
This steamer is designed to give you the option of doubling it in size with its multitiered design, which is particularly useful for steaming multiple items that have different cook times; you put the longer-cooking items on the bottom tier and just take the top tier off when that one is ready. Like most steamers, the top tier can take slightly longer to cook than the bottom tier, since the bottom is closer to the heat source. You get the hang of this; pork buns usually take longer than dumplings, so those go on the bottom tier, and you dig into the dumplings on the top tier while the pork buns on the bottom finish cooking. I fit 10 soup dumplings comfortably on one tier.
Another Good Electric Option
Cuisinart is a reliable brand for kitchen gear, and that stands true when it comes to its CookFresh Digital Glass Steamer. The base of the steamer is lightweight, which counteracts the steaming dish itself, made of a thick, weighted glass. The stainless steel steaming tray sits nicely into the dish and contains proper ventilation holes to allow for the steam to rise. You can also steam your food without the tray, which gives you more room. When you’re done with your steaming session, you can carry the glass dish straight to the table for serving. While this steamer works well, it’s on the clunkier side, and unless you’re steaming multiple times a week, it will likely feel too large to keep on your countertop. That said, it really comes in handy if you want a complete, homemade meal but aren’t in the mood to do the cooking yourself. I cooked two pieces of tilapia with a serving of veggies on the tray and was separately able to fit 15 soup dumplings.
The 1-liter water basin detaches from the base for easy filling. To start steaming, you must tightly screw the cap on the basin and flip it over to lock it into the base. It leaked very slightly for me, although not in any significant way. While some level of condensation is inevitable while steaming, having your food completely surrounded in glass is going to increase condensation compared to bamboo, for example. The interface of the CookFresh Digital Steamer could not be simpler. You turn the knob to the setting that corresponds with whatever you’re cooking and press Start. There’s also a button if all you want to do is reheat, and you can input a custom cook time. It’s the most rectangular steamer on this list, so this is a good match if you plan to cook long pieces of protein like fish that might not easily squeeze into a round or square steaming tray.
Best Ceramic Steamer
Donabe is the ancient Japanese craft of creating clay pots. Based in Japan’s Iga region for nearly 200 years, Nagatani-en is the oldest-known donabe company still operating. Cooking with this intricate handmade piece of pottery takes a little more care and attention than the plug-and-play electric versions above, but if you’re serious about taking your steaming chops to a new level, this is a great choice. One of the primary properties of donabe is that it gets extremely hot, which is why it is great for cooking food evenly. The clay used to make the pot is porous, which gives it its high heat retention and high absorption ability.
I kept my testing consistent and cooked another two pieces of tilapia with a serving of veggies (mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, and spinach). It was a little tight on the steaming dish, but once the veggies started to shrivel it fit nicely and took less than 15 minutes to cook. Everything came out incredibly moist and flavorful. (I used just some basic seasoning.) The handles on the mushi nabe donabe are not as big as they probably should be, especially considering how hot they become. So you need to be extremely careful when removing the lid. Like a cast iron skillet, a donabe is meant to be seasoned prior to your first use, and it develops character as you use it. Instructions are provided so that you can care for the donabe properly. Even though donabe are known for cooking over a flame, they are also oven-safe. They are suitable for gas stovetops only and cannot be used on electric or induction stoves. They are not microwave- or dishwasher-safe.
Best Ceramic Steamer Set
If you’re looking for a ceramic steamer that’s less fragile and easier to use than donabe, this is the best option. The variety of materials used to design this product—a ceramic exterior and bamboo inserts—makes it one of the best. This steamer comes as a set in three sizes (1.2L, 2.3L, and 4L), complete with a finished ceramic pot, a matching lid with steaming holes, and a bamboo steaming basket that has a terra-cotta base. The steaming basket fits nearly flush onto the pot, as does the lid on the basket.
The terra-cotta base on the steaming basket makes this a unique product among steamers. Terra-cotta has even stronger absorption properties than bamboo, helping get rid of even more excess moisture. Terra-cotta assists in the steaming process in a quasi-water-circulation system. The water that it absorbs ends up evaporating back in with the rest of the steam. But the high absorption is one of the negatives that I found about steaming with terra-cotta: It can create quite the stink. When I cooked tilapia in this steamer, it came out fantastic, but then I was smelling tilapia for weeks. The fish stench would not come out no matter how many times I washed the basket. Like donabe, this ceramic pot is designed to be seasoned before using it. It’s also probably best to avoid cooking colorful foods like red curries because of the possibility of it staining. Jia says if you clean it immediately then you shouldn’t have a problem, but I wouldn’t do it if you want to keep the pot looking pearly and white, because the sleek look is one of the best things about this product.
Best Bamboo Steamer Set
The Concord Bamboo Steamer set comes with a metal pot, a metal lid, and a 10-inch bamboo steamer basket. All of these pieces fit flush with one another. The round shape and walls of the bamboo steamer make it harder to fit as much food in there, but I was able to fit two pieces of tilapia flat in the 10-inch steamer with veggies and a bed of spinach (same exact meal as I prepared in the donabe), which eliminates the need for parchment steaming papers (the Concord steamer provides a pack of these). It came out just as good as preparing it in the donabe. A 10-inch bamboo steamer like this one will fit eight soup dumplings comfortably on the steaming paper.
The stainless steel pot doubles as an all-purpose pot that you can use without the steaming baskets. The handles are what make this pot stand out; they’re made of heat-resistant faux-wood silicone that keeps them soft and relatively cool to the touch. The set comes with a set of parchment steaming liners and bamboo tongs. There’s nothing quite like steaming with bamboo. A bamboo steamer doesn’t absorb heat as much as metal, so you can pick it up directly with your hands and serve your meal right in the bamboo for a traditional experience. The bamboo also absorbs excess moisture so you’re really getting a quality steam. I feel like you can even taste the flavors of the forest when you cook with bamboo.
Best Budget Steamer
I like Joseph Joseph’s steaming basket better than the typical stainless steel options. This one is made of hard silicone material that’s more pleasant to use and much easier to clean than the stainless steel baskets. The “petals” that fold in and out to expand the steamer are a much sturdier design than the metal versions, which often feel flimsy and cheaply made. Three silicone legs on the bottom give ample space for the water to do its thing underneath. The design excels at steaming veggies in the most efficient way possible. The trickiest part of steaming baskets is getting them out of the pot once your food is finished and all the pieces are still hot. The Joseph Joseph Bloom basket has a well-designed hook in the middle, making it easy to slip a fork in and lift the basket out.
Obviously you can steam whatever can fit in the basket—say, two tamales or eight soup dumplings comfortably—but veggies are the go-to when it comes to steamer baskets. It results in a well-steamed batch of veggies so flavorful you’ll barely need any seasoning. Steaming protein in here or any basket-style steamer would be a little awkward. There are a few cheaper options on the market, but at just $9, the thoughtful design, versatility, and easy clean-up of the Joseph Joseph steamer make it our top pick for those on a budget.
Best Steamer for Tiny Kitchens
If you live in an offensively small NYC apartment with only a kitchenette and barely any cabinetry, Crate & Barrel’s Collapsible Steamer and Colander may be the move. When you first look at it, this thing seems like it’s just a colander, and essentially, it is. However, it works pretty well as a makeshift steamer for certain foods. At a diameter of 9.5 inches, the base is pretty small, so if you’re steaming food items that won’t cook properly if they’re stacked or piled on each other, like dumplings, you’re only going to net one small serving. I was able to fit seven soup dumplings into the steamer comfortably. I put a piece of steaming paper on the bottom so the dumplings wouldn’t stick to the stainless steel base once they heated up. For veggies, which you can pile up in a steamer, you won’t have any problems fitting a hearty amount. While the hybrid design doesn’t make for an ideal steamer, I was surprised at how well it worked to get a satisfactory steam on my food.
It’s made of a nice combination of metal, which makes up the sturdy base and handles, and malleable silicone, which lets the whole thing flop into itself for storage. It’s just about an inch thick when fully collapsed, so this design is the ultimate space saver. To use it as a steamer, you nestle the basket into a larger pot. Where this product falls short is that the lid of your pot likely will not sit properly on top of the steamer. The steamer’s handles sit on the lip of the pot, where they prevent the lid from forming a tight seal. Steam will escape through the gap, and this makes the steaming process take longer than it otherwise would. It also just makes the whole assembly feel a bit shaky. But we have already established that this product is just a makeshift steamer, so you know what you’re getting yourself into. You also need to make sure your pot is big enough to hold the basket, but also sized to allow the handles to perch properly. It’s also tricky to take the steamer off of the pot; the metal handles sit directly on the pot, so you need to use mitts and be careful. All in all, you will get a decent steam.
The garage responds as quickly to the app as it does to a regular button clicker, with one caveat: Choosing to close the garage with the app causes it to flash its lights and beep several times before the garage will begin to close, and will still beep and flash until closing is complete. It’s for safety reasons, since the garage doesn’t know whether anyone else is in the garage while you’re closing it or whether you’re nearby to make sure the garage path is clear of anyone walking in or out.
The only way around this, sadly, is to not use the app. You can install the MyQ Smart Garage Video Keypad ($99) outside of your garage to close it without getting any beeping and to get a similar experience to a video doorbell and smart lock but for your garage. I tested one and it works fine—the key codes are easy to set up and you can close your garage beep-free, plus you’ll get alerts like a security camera for outside of your garage, but I had a mixed experience using the call button. You also have to drill it into your garage or home exterior (MyQ says it’s too heavy to use adhesive strips), which my home’s HOA sadly forbids me from doing. Still, it’s a good price for a combination lock and exterior video feed for your garage, if you’re allowed to install it.
Photograph: Nena Farrell
Notify Me
The default owner of the MyQ (that is, whoever set it up first in your home) also gets an onslaught of notifications every time the garage is opened and closed, whether via app or with your standard garage door buttons. In comparison, when you’re an added user, you won’t get any notifications by default. Both parties can go into the app, select the gear icon on the garage door (or other MyQ product in question), and edit the notifications they’re getting for the specific product.
I set up both my and my husband’s phones to get notifications about our garage being open for more than 10 minutes, and another for myself if it was open for an hour. You can add a lot more notifications, and you can also set it up to work with Amazon Key to get deliveries right into your garage (and get notified about that too). I haven’t been able to talk my husband into using it, but the included camera in my model makes me feel comfortable giving it a try.
Speaking of video, MyQ does have storage subscription plans for its video products (the brand also has video garage door openers, a video keypad, and a stand-alone camera). The first tier starts at $20 a year and goes up to $100 a year, and depending on which tier you pick you get additional features like face, person, and motion detection, detection zones, and either seven or 30 days of storage.
I’ve had my fair share of gigantic boxes arriving at my front door. It’s the nature of my job. But despite checking the dimensions, and despite attempting to brace myself, nothing could have prepared me for the delivery of the Cozey Ciello XL Couch.
This sofa is huge. Dimensions vary by configuration (more on that later), but mine comes in at 148 x 68.5 x 26.8 inches—and that’s without the optional storage ottoman. Each section of the couch arrives in its own box, and mine had so many that I was able to fully lie down on top of the boxes.
A piece of furniture this big is bound to come with some quirks, but overall, the Cozey Ciello XL is perfectly fine—provided it’s what you’re looking for in the first place.
Modern and Modular
One of the biggest draws of this couch is its customizability. It’s available in three performance fabric colors and two chenille colors. I tested the sofa in the Gray performance fabric for a little under two months. You can order a swatch book for free to figure out which fabric you want.
Photograph: Louryn Strampe
I recommend having a partner or friend help you set up the sofa. Once you get into the groove, the couch is really easy to assemble—even easier than some smaller couch-in-box setups that I’ve tried. The covers and hardware ship inside the hollow seat, backrest, or armrest. We configured our sofa and assembled it piece by piece, then snapped the pieces together. It can be a little tricky to line up the brackets perfectly when seating everything into place, but take your time and you should be fine. Just be prepared to break down a LOT of cardboard afterward.
The performance fabric is fine. It feels a bit scratchy, but it’s easy to clean, and the removable cushions mean you can sort of wash your couch in the washing machine. The couch didn’t have an offensive smell, and it was pretty comfortable right from the jump. Which brings me to my next point—exactly how comfy is it?
Okay-est Nap of My Life
I’m an awkward sitter. I’m constantly pretzel-ing my body, draping my limbs over furniture, and folding my legs up as I shift in my seat. The Cozey Ciello XL made this simultaneously very easy and very difficult.
The seats of the couch themselves are great, if a bit crinkly-sounding. They’re deep and comfortable, provided you sit in the seat itself and not across the edge of two of them (in which case the rigid structure underneath you will make it feel like you’re being split in two). Unless you’re exceptionally tall, if you scoot all the way back, your legs and/or feet will dangle. The back cushions leave a lot to be desired. The back of the couch and the arms are both very boxy and low, so when you scoot back and attempt to throw an arm over the back of the sofa, it feels a bit awkward. The seat cushions also tend to slide forward, away from the back cushions, and the back cushions and arm cushions don’t like to stay in place. That means I spent a lot of time rearranging the sofa instead of just sitting on it. This same design issue means when you’re sitting side-by-side, you end up sinking into the person sitting next to you. There’s more than enough room for two people to sit at opposite ends of the sofa, but again—I should be able to sit next to somebody else without invading their personal space.
Remember the allure of the Clapper? No more getting out of bed to hit the light switch! It seemed cutting edge on ’80s late-night infomercials, but thankfully technology has come a long way since then (though you can still buy it). You can now control the lights, set timers and schedules, and change colors with your smartphone or your voice if you have a voice assistant—no clapping required.
Smart bulbs are a great place to start when creating a smart home. Most options are relatively cheap, they’re easy to install, and they’re something you use every day already. Plus, there are no cameras or door locks for someone to hack into and no wiring to mess with. Do you want to try voice controls? Consider getting a smart speaker or smart display, but you can always use the smart bulb’s app.
I test each model of bulb for one to five days on two small Ikea lamps in my living room, with the tests lasting longer when the bulbs perform well in earlier tests. My tests start with color tests for vibrancy, color range, and brightness, paying special attention to how easy the app controls are. I then connect each bulb to my full smarthome setup and smart speakers (depending on compatibility). Of the dozens of bulbs I’ve tested over the years, these are the best smart bulbs.
Updated June 2024: We’ve added Lifx A19 bulbs as our pick for Apple Home users and Philips Hue Soft Warm White bulbs as our recommendation for smart filament bulbs.
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As we’re currently seeing with AI, when a new technology becomes buzzy, companies will do almost anything to cram that tech into their products. Trends fade, however, and corporate priorities shift—resulting in bricked gadgets and buyer’s remorse.
That’s what’s happening to some who bought Oral-B toothbrushes with Amazon Alexa built in. Oral-B released the Guide for $230 in August 2020 but bricked the ability to set up or reconfigure Alexa on the product this February. As of this writing, the Guide is still available through a third-party Amazon seller.
The Guide toothbrush’s charging base was able to connect to the internet and work like an Alexa speaker that you could speak to and from which Alexa could respond. Owners could “ask to play music, hear the news, check weather, control smart home devices, and even order more brush heads by saying ‘Alexa, order Oral-B brush head replacements,’” per Procter & Gamble’s 2020 announcement.
Oral-B also bragged at the time that, in partnering with Alexa, the Guide ushered in “the truly connected bathroom.”
Oral-B Discontinued App for Setting Up Alexa
On February 15, Oral-B bricked the Guide’s ability to set up Alexa by discontinuing the Oral-B Connect app required to complete the process. Guide owners can still use the Oral-B App for other features; however, the ability to use the charging base like an Alexa smart speaker—a big draw in the product’s announcement and advertising—is seriously limited.
The device should still work with Alexa if users set it up before Oral-B shuttered Connect, but setting up a new Wi-Fi connection or reestablishing a lost one doesn’t work without Connect.
That’s a problem for Patrick Hubley, who learned that Oral-B discontinued Connect when his base inadvertently disconnected from the Wi-Fi and he tried using Connect to fix it. He told Ars Technica that when he tries using the Alexa wake word now, the speaker says, “I’m having trouble connecting to the internet. For help, go to your device’s companion app.”
Hubley attempted but failed to get a refund or replacement brush through Oral-B’s support avenues. He says he will no longer buy Oral-B or Alexa products.
I only purchased this toothbrush from Amazon because that was the only way to get the water-resistant Alexa speaker that I wanted for the bathroom … I’m ready to be done with Alexa and Oral-B both.
Connect no longer works on devices on which it’s already installed. A few users have also stated on Amazon that they can no longer set Guide up to use Alexa. However, the Guide is still available on Amazon as of this writing, with images of its box saying “Alexa built-in” and the product’s title reading “Alexa Built-In” and “Amazon Dash Replenishment Enabled.” The listing is from a third-party seller, but since Oral-B released the Guide exclusively through Amazon, shoppers could easily not realize that Alexa setup is borked.
I reached out to Amazon about this, and spokesperson Connor Rice told me:
The Oral-B Guide still has Alexa built-in and customers can keep using the Alexa experience on devices that were set up through the Oral-B Connect app. The Oral-B Guide is currently sold by an independent seller on Amazon.com. Please contact Oral-B for any further questions about their app.
Oral-B’s Response
Oral-B discontinued the Guide about two years ago and now only has one mobile app, called Oral-B. If a toothbrush brand is going to have any apps at all, one seems like the maximum reasonable number. It’s unclear why Alexa capabilities weren’t integrated into the still-standing Oral-B app.
When I reached out to Procter & Gamble, a company spokesperson said:
For me, a dryer lives and dies by its diffuser, and I’ve never seen one like this, which is actually two diffusers. In “diffuse mode,” it looks like any diffuser you’ve ever seen, with prongs to get right into the root to dry and help with volume. Dyson says this one is best for more textured curls and coils.
Pop that prong part off to use “dome mode.” Instead of pushing air out, it creates a vortex of air within the dome so air spins around the curls to dry them. It’s meant to elongate and enhance waves and curls. For my hair, they were best used together, and I think many curl types would benefit from both. I dried the roots and coarser bottom layer with the regular diffuser, and then switched to the dome for the length, particularly focusing on the damaged curls on top that require a bit more care to bring out the shape.
You’ll notice a few slight visual changes from the first Supersonic. Lights change colors based on the heat setting, turning blue for cool, yellow for low heat, orange for medium, and red for high. It makes it a little more fun-looking, but it’s also a nice visual cue to quickly check which setting you’re on. My favorite new addition though, is the clear back where the settings are, which gives you an inside look at some of the internals. As a huge fan of ’90s clear tech, I want more of this all the time. Dyson, if you’re reading this, the people want fully transparent hair tools with candy-colored wires.
Putting most of the controls on the back of the barrel is a smart move (as it was with the original). Most dryers put the buttons right where your hands grip the handle, so you can accidentally change settings when you’re just trying to hold it to your head. Here, the power switch and cold shot button are on the handle, but out of the way.
Smart Features
Photograph: Medea Giordano
The Supersonic Nural has a few unique smart functions that make the hair-drying process a little easier. Scalp protect mode uses a time-of-flight (ToF) sensor and infrared beam to detect when the dryer gets close to your head, automatically turning the temperature down to 131 degrees Fahrenheit. Though it works with only some of the attachments, like the gentle air attachment, styling concentrator, and smoothing nozzle, it means you don’t have to fiddle with settings as you move from roots out.
I fell in love with linen bedding years ago. I bought a bright yellow linen duvet I was certain would bring my bedroom together. The yellow was just a phase, but sleeping on linen just clicked. Linen has a rougher texture and a lived-in look, which can turn some folks off from sleeping on it. But the fabric is breathable and dries fast, so you’ll stay cooler as you sleep and avoid sweaty sheets. (That’s why linen apparel is popular in the summer.)
Linen is also strong and durable, softening up (slowly) after each wash without becoming thinner or weaker. Linen tends to be more expensive since high-quality linen will last a long time, so a linen sheet set is an investment not only in staying cool as you sleep (which is very important for sleep quality) but also in gorgeous bedding you can enjoy for years. I love sleeping on linen so long as it isn’t too scratchy, which is one of the many things I looked for while testing and searching for the best linen sheets. After sleeping on multiple sets (along with all kinds of other sheets!), these are the best.
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What’s So Great About Linen?
Photograph: Judy Davidson/Getty Images
Linen is a woven fabric made from flax plants. It is a highly breathable material so it keeps you cool during the summer months as it doesn’t trap heat. It’s great for people who sleep hot. It’s rougher at first than a simple cotton set, but it should soften up the more it’s washed. Linen often has a higher price than other sheets, but it’s generally more durable than percale or cotton, so a good sheet set should last a long time.
They’re not for everyone, but if you love linen apparel, you’ll probably love linen sheets. If you’re unsure, start with a single piece (like a duvet or flat sheet) and see what you think. Most of the options we recommend come in a linen set, but you can also buy many of these pieces separately, allowing you to try a linen pillowcase or fitted sheet before wading into a full-on linen bed.
I’ve long been skeptical of alternative toothbrushes, those mouthguard-like trays filled with nylon bristles that claim to brush your teeth in just 10 to 30 seconds. I’ve found them to be OK for days when I’m just too tired for a full brushing, but it doesn’t quite get my teeth clean enough. I’ve never felt like I could get close to someone’s face and chat after. But Y-Brush’s DuoBrush also comes with a regular sonic brush head. Both click onto the same brush handle.
U-shaped brushes aren’t a replacement for regular brushing. Your tongue still needs to be cleaned everyday, which these can’t do, and they’re likely missing some build-up and plaque. But for people with mobility problems, or in nursing homes or for small children, they can be useful tools. Despite watching Timmy the Tooth on repeat in my youth, some days even I struggle. That’s when I liked reaching for this.
Tooth by Tooth
The brand recommends using its Y-Brush for 10 to 20 seconds per jaw. I opted for 20 and occasionally went even longer. In addition to the vibrations caused by the brush handle, you should gently chew and slowly move it from side to side (that’s recommended with all these types of brushes). This gets your back teeth and offers a little more movement for the bristles to really work—according to the company, there are 35,000 bristles arranged in the tray. Taking it out and flipping it to get the rest of your teeth can be a little messy and slobbery, but do it over the sink and you should be fine.
While the brand does claim that the Y-Brush gets your teeth as clean in one minute as a regular brush does in two, I think having both the Y-brush and the sonic brush is important. It reminds you that you need to have a well-rounded dental routine, even if once a day you take the easier route. I brushed my teeth and tongue with the regular brush head in the morning or before I went somewhere, and used the U-shaped head at night. My teeth felt cleaner, but not as clean as they typically do.
Photograph: Medea Giordano
If I only used the U-shaped brush, my teeth wouldn’t fall out of my head, but I also don’t think they’d be sparkling or that my mouth would feel minty fresh. Still, I could go to bed at night not feeling completely gross.
It comes only in one size, though the tray head is made to fit most adult mouths. Every one of these alternative brushes I’ve tried has fit my top teeth comfortably, but hurts the back of my bottom jaw, where the edges push against my back gums. Thankfully, you don’t have to use it very long. The sonic brush head is standard and feels like any affordable brush I’ve tried. I like the options available from Sonicare more, as they’re just a little more dense without being hard, but the DuoBrush is on par with many others in the category.
The company recommends a toothpaste that foams well, but it works with any that you like. I used it with Crest and Sensodyne and found that both did the job, but you do end up using a bit more than you do on a regular brush head. Make sure you thoroughly clean the tray after each use, so spit and toothpaste doesn’t sit in between all those bristles. That would make for a nasty surprise next time you try to clean your teeth.
Brush Away
If you’ve been curious about these types of alternative toothbrushes, it might be worth giving the DuoBrush a try. At $80, it’s not a bad price for two types of brushes. WIRED writer and reviewer Brenda Stolyar likes the Symplbrush. It has more bristles—each clump of bristles is basically a regular toothbrush, plus they’re arranged on all three sides of the tray. That one is $129, however, and you still need another toothbrush. You also have to replace the heads, like with any electric toothbrush.
Y-Brush recommends changing the heads every four months, which is another $40. That’s kind of steep even with two brush heads included.
Mobility difficulties, depression, and exhaustion are just a few reasons why your dental care might suffer. If you’re a parent, you may have had more than a few moments where a frustrated or screaming child just refused to brush. You might take care of elderly family members who struggle to brush. If you think a U-shaped brush might work for you, the Y-brush is an affordable one to try.
There’s no such thing as the best mattress for everyone. Not when there are so many different sleeping positions. However, most people are side sleepers. The numbers vary by study and how rigidly you define a side sleeper, but between half and three-quarters of people sleep on their side. (The older and heavier you are, the more likely you are to be a side sleeper, and it’s recommended that pregnant women sleep on their side.)
Firm mattresses are nice for back sleepers, but side and stomach sleepers may typically prefer a softer bed with some give for hips and knees. I am mostly a side sleeper. If you had asked me about my firmness preferences before I started reviewing bed-in-a-box mattresses, testing dozens for weeks over the year, I would’ve told you the softer the better. Indeed, if you’re a side sleeper you’re likely to gravitate toward cushy memory foam mattresses. But, as I’ve sampled more styles and religiously tracked my sleep on my Apple Watch, I’ve found that the best mattresses for side sleepers offer both cushion and support. The recommendations below have enough give to let your hips sink in for a natural spinal alignment without making you feel like rolling over is an uphill battle. Everything I recommend was put through at least a week of real-life testing. All of the prices shown are for queen-size models.
Updated May 2023: We’ve added the Casper One and Leesa Sapira Chill Hybrid.
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Here’s a statistic that’s hard to understand: More than 600,000 Californians with low to moderate incomes haven’t touched the free cash the state gave them during the pandemic.
They haven’t spent it, nor have they stashed it away for a rainy day. Instead, they’ve left the money — $200 to $1,050, depending on their income level and tax-filing status — sitting on unactivated prepaid debit cards, where it doesn’t even earn interest.
The state called the handout a Middle Class Tax Refund, although truth be told, it wasn’t a refund — it was a grant from the state’s erstwhile budget surplus, ostensibly to offset the high price of gasoline and other goods. If you filed your 2020 state tax return on time, you qualified for a grant as long as your income was no more than $250,000 (for individuals) or $500,000 (for couples or heads of households).
The Franchise Tax Board made the vast majority of the grants between October 2022 and February 2023, ultimately awarding $9.2 billion to 16.8 million California taxpayers. The state sent the money straight into the bank accounts of 7.2 million households that had signed up for direct deposit, paying an average of $555, according to the tax board. The other 9.6 million households were supposed to receive their money in the form of prepaid debit cards, collecting an average of $542 per household.
Here’s the interesting thing. According to the state, more than half the cards issued still had unspent funds as of April 8. In fact, about 624,000 cards had not even been activated. That’s hundreds of millions of dollars encased in plastic, benefiting no one.
The FTB said an unspecified number of cards were “pending updated address information,” meaning they couldn’t find the intended recipient. The board didn’t reveal how many cards were held up by this problem. It’s easy to imagine the state having trouble finding addresses for taxpayers experiencing homelessness, but such cases can’t account for most of the 624,000 unactivated cards.
By now you may be wondering whether you are one of those taxpayers still waiting for a card in the mail. If you filed a 2020 California tax return on time, earned less than the income limits for the Middle Class Tax Refund that year and have not given your banking information to the FTB (you sent money to the FTB or received refunds from it via checks, not electronically), and you’re still a California resident, then you would appear to be eligible for a grant.
You might think that the tax board would have a list of people still missing their prepaid cards, so you could ask whether you’re on it.
You would be mistaken.
Instead, the FTB offers two potential courses of action. “If you have not received your debit card and believe that you are eligible, make sure that your address is up to date with FTB,” the board says on its website. “Visit our Help with the Middle Class Tax Refund page for instructions to update your address.”
Alternatively, you can call the contractor distributing the prepaid cards, Money Network, at (800) 240-0223. To find out whether a card was issued to you, you’ll need to navigate through a series of automated prompts, then enter the last six digits of the Social Security number used on your 2020 tax return, followed by your ZIP Code, to see if Money Network has an account that matches.
If not, you weren’t issued a Middle Class Tax Refund on a prepaid card. You can then find out whether a card was ever sent to your address and, if necessary, request a new one.
You may also find out, however, that your card was issued and all of the funds have been spent. There have been numerous reports of cards being hacked and accounts being drained by thieves who use physical or electronic tools to grab card numbers, PIN codes and other identifying information.
Money Network’s contract requires it to keep the fraud rate below 1%, but considering the number of cards issued, even 0.5% would mean 48,000 households victimized.
Attorney Kevin Kneupper of the Huntington Beach-based law firm Kneupper and Covey filed a class-action lawsuit against Money Network in August on behalf of Californians whose Middle Class Tax Refund cards were hacked or not issued. But in April, U.S. District Judge Kenly Kato dismissed the complaint, ruling that individual Californians did not have standing to sue because they weren’t the intended beneficiaries of the contract between the state and the company.
Kneupper said his firm has probably heard from about 100 people who’d had problems with cards, with more complaints coming in every day.
You still have a remedy if your card is tapped by hackers, though. By law, you are entitled to be reimbursed for any unauthorized charges on your card.
The FTB and Money Network say that if you suspect your card was used without your authorization, you should call the company at (800) 240-0223 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific time, Monday through Friday. You’ll need to enter the number on your prepaid card, then wade through a series of automated scripts and responses to get where you’ll need to go.
To avoid hackers and thieves tapping into your prepaid card, transfer the balance into your bank account, if you have one. You can do so at no charge through mctrpayment.com, via the Money Network mobile phone app or by calling (800) 240-0223. Money Network lays out the steps on its Frequently Asked Questions page.
Alternatively, you can sign up for transaction alerts on the Money Net mobile app. That way, you can find out quickly if someone is using your card without your permission. You can use the app to lock the card to prevent any money from being withdrawn if you suspect a problem or if you know you won’t be using it for a while.
You’ll spend a third of your life on a mattress, which means picking the right one is important. Start with your preferred sleeping position and how much support you need. Here are a few tips.
Should you buy a firm or soft mattress? Generally, heavier people and back or stomach sleepers will do better with firmer mattresses, while lighter people and side sleepers enjoy softer mattresses. Temperature is also an issue: Softer mattresses sleep warmer since your body is sinking into a layer of fabric and foam. Keep in mind that all mattresses have a break-in period, and the way the mattress feels on your first night won’t be how it feels after a week or two.
Do you want a hybrid or foam mattress? The next big question is whether you want a foam mattress or a hybrid model that layers foam with built-in springs. We tend to recommend hybrids because they are more stable and supportive, and they usually stay cooler. Hybrids are often slightly pricier. Foam mattresses tend to be softer, lighter, and cheaper.
What size mattress do you need? The prices below are based on the queen size, but almost all mattresses come in the standard sizes of Twin, Twin XL, Full, Queen, King, and California King. You’ll want to buy a mattress based on the size of your bed frame.
How easy is it to set up a bed-in-a-box? Most of these mattresses are delivered in a box, vacuum-sealed, and rolled up. Some are pretty heavy—up to 150 pounds—so be sure you have someone to help you. After you unroll your bed-in-a-box mattress and cut the vacuum bag open, it’ll immediately begin to inflate, so unbox it on your bed frame or near it. We have a helpful guide on how to set up the mattress you bought online with more tips. The mattresses are usually ready to go in a few hours, but most manufacturers recommend giving them two days to reach their normal state.
Should you wait for a sale to buy a mattress? Mattresses go on sale often. If you see one at full price, there’s a strong chance you can save hundreds of dollars by waiting for the next big sale event (every few months).
What if you don’t like the mattress you bought online? Most of the mattresses we have tested and recommend have at least a 100-night testing period and a 10-year warranty. You may want to look at the company’s policy as you may be on the hook for a nominal return fee.
Not every chair is a winner. Here are a few others we like enough to recommend, but they’re not as good as our top picks above.
Hinomi X1 Chair for $669: Hinomi’s X1 mesh chair has a trick up its sleeve—a built-in footrest! Just extend and flip out the footrest; voilà, your feet are now propped up. This might not be very practical for fellow tall people, as my legs often hit the wall behind my desk, but it’s quite comfy. The chair is otherwise well-built. I like the lumbar support here, and there’s a good amount of adjustments you can make. The seat itself is a bit firm, but I got used to it after some time. Hinomi offers a 12-year warranty, but best of all you can snag it in a dusty pink from the company’s website. I’d buy this over the X-Chair mesh chair listed below.
BodyBilt Midcelli Mesh Chair for $949: BodyBilt’s chair looks quite average, but the seat pad is plushy and soft, and it’s contoured to your butt and legs, which I liked more than I expected. The mesh back has some give to it, so it doesn’t feel rigid, and there are all the usual points of adjustment, including moving the seat forward and back. I wish the arms could lock to a position. It has a lifetime warranty on select parts, while other chair areas are covered for 12, seven, five, or three years. There are more customization options on BodyBilt’s website—with the option to get a consultation—but I just think it’s overpriced.
Razer Fujin Pro for $1,049: Razer is asking for Herman Miller and Steelcase prices despite offering a measly five-year warranty on this $1,000-plus chair. Still, my colleague Eric Ravenscraft likes the Fujin Pro (8/10, WIRED Recommends). There are a good amount of adjustments you can make, the armrests are useful, and the mesh is breathable. Oh, and it doesn’t have the over-used gaming chair race-car seat aesthetic.
Tempur-Pedic Tempur-Lumbar Support Office Chair for $352: I think this is a nice alternative to the Branch Ergonomic Chair, our top pick. The Tempur seat cushion is, perhaps unsurprisingly, wonderfully comfy to sit on for hours at a time. And most chairs that have a thick lumbar cushion end up causing me back pain, but not here—I’ve had no issues sitting on this chair for a month. The mesh back is nice for airflow too. The arms tend to move around a bit though, and the mechanism to adjust them is not elegant. Installation wasn’t too hard, but the instructions weren’t as simple as Branch’s, and the overall build quality feels cheap.
Cooler Master Motion 1 Gaming Chair for $2,500: I don’t recommend most gaming chairs—that’s coming from someone who sat on one for several years. They are quite adjustable, but they’re not terribly comfy, breathable, or ergonomic. They also mostly go after a particular racing car aesthetic. For most people, the above chairs will work better. However, the Cooler Master Motion 1 (7/10, WIRED Recommends) is different. WIRED contributor Simon Hill says it’s quite literally built for gaming—the seat rumbles when you move on bumpy terrain in Forza Horizon 5, and it’ll throw in a few jolts if you crash. You do need to make sure the game you own is supported, but there are more than 100 AAA titles on the roster. It works with a catalog of more than 2,000 movies and TV shows too, in case you want to feel the power behind Batman’s blows. As a chair itself, it’s OK. It’s decently comfy but lacks the adjustability you might find on a normal office chair. The armrests are fixed, and prolonged sessions might leave you nauseous. But it’s unique and worth considering if you love racing games and flight sims.
Knoll Newson Task Chair for $1,195: This minimalist chair looks best in the graphite and petal colors; it’s a bit drab in black and umber. It’s nice that I didn’t have to fuss with any levers or knobs much—it’s comfy out of the box and decently adjustable if you need to make some tweaks—and it feels especially nice when you recline. (The red knob adjusts the tension of the recline, but you need to twist it for five rotations, and I found it hard to turn sometimes.) The Newson didn’t give me trouble in the two months I sat in it. I’m just not a huge fan of how the elastomer mesh backrest distorts, depending on how you sit. It feels lumpy. This chair also doesn’t let me sit as upright as I’d like, but maybe you’re fine with a bit of give. Ultimately, it’s the price that pulls it out of our top recommendations, but you do get a 12-year warranty.
X-Chair X2 K-Sport Management Chair for $879: This used to be our top mesh chair pick but it has been supplanted by the Steelcase Karman. Sitting in the X-Chair feels like lounging in a hammock. Every part of my body feels well supported, and you can adjust nearly everything on the chair. Pull the seat up and push the armrests up, down, and side to side, or angle them in or out. The lumbar support feels like a cushion, and it adjusts as you move in your seat. If you want to rest your head, you can pay extra for the headrest. It has held up extremely well after three years of near-continuous sitting, but I don’t like how bulky it is. X-Chair has a number of models to choose from. I tested the X-2 K-Sport with the wide seat, and it fits my 6’4″ frame really well, but it was too wide for my partner, who is 5’1″. Most people should be fine with the standard X1.
Ikea Markus Chair for $290: The Markus is a perfectly fine office chair. It’s not the most comfortable, but it’s far from the worst. The mesh design keeps you cool, and the tall back lets you fully lean into it. It’s rather thin and isn’t obtrusive in a small home office or bedroom. It was annoying to put together (lol, Ikea), and you might need someone to hold up the back of the chair while you properly attach the seat. Unfortunately, if you often sit with at least one leg up or with your legs crossed, the width between the arms will make you uncomfortable.
X-Chair X-Tech Executive Chair for $2,049: Functionally, the X-Tech is similar to the X-Chair above. In this version, the M-Foam cooling gel seat is indeed wonderful to sit on, though it’s not as heat-wicking as the all-mesh X-Chairs. It’s the Brisa Soft Touch material that impresses the most—it’s ridiculously soft. I recommend you stick with the standard armrests instead of the FS 360 armrests, which tend to move about too much. But my biggest gripe with this model is the price. Why on earth does it cost that much?
Mavix M7 Chair for $677: If it looks strangely similar to the X-Chair (see above), that’s because both are owned by the same company. WIRED reviewer Louryn Strampe ran into some issues with assembly, but customer service was able to exchange the model without much effort. The M7 has similarly adjustable armrests and seat angles, but you get wheels that lock. The mesh back and wide seat construction keep you cool and comfortable during sweaty League of Legends sessions, and the lumbar support does the job. If you’re short, contact customer support while ordering—Mavix offers shorter cylinders so your feet touch the ground.
Hon Ignition 2.0 Office Chair for $425: This chair is easy to set up and looks great, but it gave me really bad back pain, which is why I originally placed it in our “Avoid” section. I thought it was perhaps the long hours I was working, so I switched back to the Knoll Newson Task chair and my pain quickly began to ease. Sometime later, I gave it a shot again. After a few hours, the pain came back, and switching to another chair dissipated it. Color me confused, because this chair has positive reviews around the web. I then asked a friend who is around 5′ 4″ to try it for a few weeks, and she has had zero issues. This seems to be the answer. It’s possible the Ignition doesn’t work for my 6′ 4″ self and is better suited for smaller folks.
Hon Ignition 2.0 Big and Tall for $712: I had a much better experience with this Hon chair, which, as the name suggests, is suited for big and tall people like me. It has a reinforced steel frame that can support up to 450 pounds with a wider seat. It’s comfy, transfers heat away well, and does a nice job supporting my back. However, it looks incredibly dull in Boring Black. I had a fine experience in the chair, aside from the arms that tend to slide left and right whenever you put some pressure on them. I’m just not sure it’s worth the weirdly high price.
Pipersong Meditation Chair for $369: Have a problem sitting in a traditional chair? If your legs need to be bent and twisted for you to be comfortable, you’ll want to check this chair out. It has a 360-degree swiveling footstool that can accommodate pretty much any sitting position you want. I can go from kneeling to cross-legged to one leg up, one leg down. It’s possible to sit regularly too, with the footstool behind you and your feet flat on the floor. It’s the only chair I’ve found that’s designed for odd sitting habits. There are no armrests, which I didn’t mind because that’s what makes it possible to sit in many of these positions. The actual stool and chair back could stand to be bigger and taller, respectively. I had to use a pillow to keep my back comfy.
There’s also only one roller head on the Submarine, but it already has a debris tray you can no-touch rinse and empty. It’s also easy to take apart the Submarine head to rinse it and let it air dry at my laundry room sink. After six months of use, the roller head still doesn’t smell. If you’re wondering why Dyson is releasing a new wet floor cleaner when the Submarine just came out, you’re not the only one. The WashG1 doesn’t clean with suction and doesn’t have a separate dustbin.
In a briefing, a reporter asked whether one can use the WashG1 to handle common household messes, like broken glass. Dyson representatives suggested first sweeping or vacuuming the shards separately—a two-step process that seems to defeat the purpose of an all-in-one floor cleaner. This holds especially true in a market crowded with competitors like the much more affordable Bissell CrossWave OmniForce ($380) I’m currently testing.
Dyson’s killer app, so to speak, has long been its ability to move air in new, beautiful, and sometimes frighteningly forceful ways, whether that’s in a high-end air purifier, in a vacuum, or a hair styler that spins the strands of your hair up and around a hot barrel for effortless curls. However, despite reporting consistent revenue increases, the company has had a few pretty notable flops in the past few years.
The Zone, Dyson’s venture into high-end audio, was kind of silly. There is still no sign of the new battery technology that prompted the construction of a new facility in Singapore. The company must still be searching for new robotics and software developers to hire because our reviewer found the new Vis Nav robot vacuum’s ability to make its way around table legs lackluster.
Still, with a few notable exceptions, we have all underestimated the allure and the efficacy of Dyson’s premium designs at one time or another, and home cleaning is one of Dyson’s core strengths. Am I a little skeptical? Yes. Am I still going to test it eagerly? Also, yes.
The Eureka E10 is fairly affordable in the face of other robot mop-vacs; our recommendation for an affordable option is $800, while the E10 is $600. You might think to yourself, why buy a more expensive model then?Why spend more if I don’t have to?
The Eureka is a little dumb. It bumps into so many things you’d think it’s wearing a blindfold, and if I move the vacuum around too much–like flipping it over to cut the hair on the brush, or my toddler gets curious and pushes it around–it will forget where it is and wipe my home map from its memory. It’s adorably dumb when it can’t figure out how to get around my husband’s office chair, and infuriatingly dumb when it gets itself stuck on the same patch of rug-to-carpet transition five times in a row.
It’s not a bad vacuum. If you can find it on sale and mostly want it for carpet cleaning, you’ll likely be satisfied. I was plenty happy with how it vacuumed my carpet. But the mopping and built-in smarts left something to be desired.
B-Level Cleaning
The E10 is just a B student trying to survive out here in the world, at least when it comes to vacuuming my carpet.
I was pretty happy with the E10’s vacuuming. It left the satisfying vacuum lines and fluffy carpet behind that screamed “freshly cleaned!” But it wasn’t great at getting all the cat litter off the floor, and it tended to pool a little bit of litter underneath itself when it returned to base. Still, the vacuuming experience wasn’t much different than I got with the much more expensive Dreame X30 Ultra (7/10, WIRED Review), and the E10 was much, much quieter than the Dreame while it zipped around my home.
Photography: Nena Farrell
The difference is in the mopping job. Most robot vacuum-mops today have rotating scrubbers or refillable water tanks or self-cleaning tools. Not the E10, which has the same system as robot mops of yore where you pour water into a canteen in the vacuum that’s above the single mop pad. Then the vacuum drags the lightly damp pad around your house to mop your home.
Baby Brezza Sleep and Soother for $30: This is super light, can run on batteries or be plugged in, and has 18 sleep sounds and three timer options (or it plays continuously). There’s also a night light with three brightness levels.
Yogasleep Hushh 2 Portable Sound Machine for $30: The Hushh 2 is another great portable sound machine that you should consider. It has six sounds, three timer options, and a nice night light for softly illuminating your bedside table or guiding your way to the bathroom. The brand says this model is its most durable sound machine. I didn’t fling it down the stairs, but it has held up to falling off my nightstand.
My Little Morphée for $100: The Morphee above is great for adults, but this version is cute and designed for kids from 3 to about 10 years old. Senior reviews editor Adrienne So’s 7-year-old loves the stories, which take kids on meditative journeys with an animal companion. Stock tends to fluctuate on this one.
Lectrofan Evo for $57: Another solid option from the brand that makes our top pick. The Evo has a few more sound choices (like ocean noises) and looks nicer, but we prefer the buttons on the Classic. They’re better for fiddling with in the dark. This one also jumped in price recently.
Dreamegg D1 for $36: This one plays a lot of the same sounds as the D11 portable machine, with a handful more fans and a spectrum of noises. The control panel is matte and soft to the touch, and you can set it to play continuously or for 30, 60, or 90 minutes. I tried the white version, but you can get a few other nice colors on the Dreamegg site. The rim also lights up.
Snooz Sound Machine for $100: The Snooz machine has one sound: the comforting whir of a fan, thanks to the real fan that spins inside it. That’s the sound I turn to most so I appreciate that there’s nothing to futz with. It also has a nice fade-in and fade-out feature for timers, so it’s not jarring. The biggest problem is how expensive it is for one noise compared to other machines on this list.
Encalife Sound Machine for $85: This little sound machine has a blue light that you can match your breathing to in order to relax. You’ll also likely find it on sale often, which is good because I wouldn’t spend $85 on it. A very similar model is available under numerous brand names for far less money. Encalife says these are ripoffs, rather than from the same manufacturer. We can’t confirm that, but either way there are better options on this list for less.
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