Amazon’s Eero mesh range is tough to beat for folks seeking a set-and-forget mesh Wi-Fi system for their home. Simplicity, with a side of smart home support, makes the Eero Pro 7 a compelling prospect. It strikes a nice balance in Eero’s Wi-Fi 7 lineup, offering the faster 6-GHz band and better all-around performance than the entry-level Eero 7, while costing far less than the top-of-the-line Max 7.
While I experienced teething troubles with systems like the Max 7 when Wi-Fi 7 was new, my time with the Pro 7 has been plain sailing. Quick to install, easy to use, and reliable, this is an easy mesh to recommend, but there’s plenty of competition. At $700 for a 3-pack, the Eero Pro 7 is not cheap, and you need to shell out for an Eero Plus subscription to unlock all its features.
Easy Life
Photograph: Simon Hill
Eero systems have a well-deserved reputation for being easy to set up and use. Download the Eero app, sign in with your Amazon account, and follow the onscreen instructions to get your network up and running in minutes. The app keeps things simple, with a home page showing your internet connection, mesh routers, and connected devices. You can dig into the full list of devices and review activity, but everything else is hidden in the settings.
I tested a 3-pack of identical shiny white plastic routers, featuring the same tower design as the Max 7, just slightly smaller. They blend in easily and plug into power via the USB-C port on the back. Each unit sports two 5-Gbps Ethernet ports. The app guides you on placement, and it’s best to think of your mesh as an internet spine for the home, so rather than placing a node in a dead spot, set it up halfway between your main router and the room you’re trying to cover.
My Eero Pro 7 testing spanned a house move, so I was able to test it in a modern home where two units easily blanketed every corner and in an old Victorian house with much thicker walls, where all three units were required. While speeds using Wi-Fi 7 devices in the same room as the main router were as fast as I’ve recorded, there was a significant drop-off one or two rooms over. This is because the 6-GHz band doesn’t penetrate as well as the 5-GHz or 2.4-GHz bands we are used to.
I tested the Mic 3 with cameras, computers, and smartphones, using both direct connection and receiver connection methods. It paired painlessly with everything I threw at it, from my mirrorless camera to my iPhone, and the audio quality remained consistently excellent across different devices and environments. It’s part of the OsmoAudio system too, meaning the transmitter can directly link with DJI cameras like the Osmo 360, Osmo Action 5 Pro, and Osmo Pocket 3, bypassing the receiver entirely while still offering high-quality audio.
Missing Pieces
Photograph: Sam Kieldsen
The Mic 3 isn’t perfect, but I found little to complain about. The transmitters no longer include a 3.5-mm input for connecting external lavalier microphones, which might frustrate people who prefer to hide their mics completely. DJI has also dropped the Safety Track recording mode that was available on the Mic 2, but it’s entirely possible to rig one up using the available options.
US availability remains uncertain; like other recent DJI products, the Mic 3 isn’t officially launching in America due to ongoing tariff concerns. US consumers may be able to source units through third-party retailers, but that’s far from ideal for a product that should really be widely available. At $329 for the complete two-transmitter, one-receiver, and charging case package, the Mic 3 is actually cheaper than the Mic 2 was at launch, which I think is a remarkably good value for a product that’s superior in almost every way. DJI’s decision to sell individual components separately is welcome too. It means users can start with a basic setup and expand over time, or replace a damaged or lost component without too much fuss.
The DJI Mic 3 essentially combines the best aspects of both the Mic 2 and Mic Mini into a single, well-rounded package. It’s more compact and practical than the Mic 2, and far more advanced than the Mini. For content creators, filmmakers, and podcasters looking for a wireless microphone system that just works, it’s very hard to find fault with it.
The only real question is whether existing Mic 2 owners need to upgrade. If the improved portability and expanded feature set appeal to you, the Mic 3 represents a solid step forward. But the Mic 2 remains an excellent microphone in its own right, so there’s no urgent need to make the switch unless those new features and upgrades genuinely solve problems you’re currently facing.
Yorgos Lanthimos’s Bugonia began life as a remake of the 2003 South Korean film Save the Green Planet!, and it retains the broad outlines of that strange classic. But it also feels like Lanthimos through and through, albeit with the strangest of twists: It’s the first picture of his populated by characters who feel like they exist in the real world, people you could run into if you walked out the door. The power of Lanthimos’s work has always come from his ability to provide surreal but dead-on metaphors that take on lives of their own: a futuristic resort where one must debase oneself to find a mate, in The Lobster; or a family where the parents have trained their kids to accept absurdities as reality, in Dogtooth. With Bugonia, it feels like he’s entered our world at last, at least for a while. Which also makes it maybe the saddest film he’s ever made.
Bugonia, which premieres at the Venice Film Festival and will release in theaters in October, is basically a two-hander, albeit with three central characters. Teddy (Jesse Plemons) and his neurodivergent cousin Donald (played by newcomer Aiden Delbis) live in a ramshackle house in the woods where they keep bees and are methodically preparing for a shocking act: They will kidnap high-powered, slick-suited pharmaceutical-company executive Michelle (Emma Stone) and hold her hostage until she confesses that she’s an alien who has been sent to experiment on humans. “Welcome to the headquarters of the human resistance,” they declare after shaving her head and taking off her blindfold. Teddy wants Michelle to contact her mothership and take them to her queen, with whom he intends to negotiate for the aliens’ withdrawal from Earth.
Teddy has done his research. He’s studied all the YouTube videos and photos and he’s gathered all the necessary information, and he knows exactly what these aliens are and what their ships look like; the good-natured though not entirely convinced Donald goes along with him out of loyalty and love, and also because Teddy seems like the one person who treats him as an equal. Michelle, meanwhile, is at a loss to how to react: She’s a tough, wealthy power player, the kind of person who does martial arts in the morning and doesn’t take any shit from anyone. And she has no idea how she’s going to convince these kooks to let her go.
Lanthimos has guided multiple actors, including these, to some of the best performances of their careers (Stone won an Oscar for 2023’s Poor Things, and Plemons won the Best Actor award at Cannes for Kinds of Kindness last year), so it seems weird to say that Bugonia is also his first film to feel like a true showcase for his stars. But it is: The movie unfolds as a series of confrontations between Teddy and Michelle, her increasingly insistent desperation crashing against the rocks of his languorous immovability. Stone is remarkable (when is she not?), emotionally wriggling like a bug pinned to a wall, trying different tactics with this psycho. First, she’s calm and controlled and confident; then, she tries kindness and pliancy. Plemons’s laid-back confidence is bone-chilling initially. But he also has to fuel our ire, earn our pathos, and maybe even provoke some twinges of solidarity. The characters in Lanthimos’s films don’t really go on traditional emotional journeys. We, the audience, do.
The director’s work has always turned on humiliation and power trips. (Think of The Favourite and how beyond all its ornate rituals and ironclad hierarchies, the line between power and disgrace remained so tenuous.) Bugonia is no different. If what Teddy is saying is true, Michelle would be a more powerful being than he could ever dream of. And yet, he needs it to be true. He needs to explain his own powerlessness, even as he seemingly holds her life in his hands. If she is, in fact, an emissary from an alien race, then the degradations of his life will finally make sense. “We are not steering the ship, Don,” he tells his cousin. “They are.” It’s hard not to sense the slightest bit of hope amid all that outrage.
Gradually, we learn what lies at the root of all this. Surreal flashbacks show us how Teddy’s ill mom (Alicia Silverstone) suffered at the hands of Michelle’s company, how the empty corporate platitudes offered in exchange for his family’s horror merely confirmed his belief that there was more to what was being said and what had been done. Bugonia’s narrative trajectory is, on one level, a predictable but resonant one, as we slowly learn to accept Teddy’s irrational actions as a response to a fundamentally irrational world. But we also see that the only thing that will lead to resolution and a way out of this mess is, well, more humiliation.
So, that describes most of the movie. Bugonia heads in, let’s say, a different direction as it reaches its conclusion. (If you’ve seen Save the Green Planet!, you’ll know where it’s going.) While these developments aren’t exactly new or shocking — some viewers will probably find them predictable — they actually bring the world of this film further into Lanthimos-land. His style is Olympian on the surface, the ironic detachment of his pictures casting a cold, curious eye at humanity’s follies and derangements. But this coolness is a ruse, and he always lets the sadness peek through, making it clear that he is, after all, one of us. By the time Bugonia is over, with a series of beautiful and haunting images that seem to come out of nowhere, we understand that beneath its bemused dispassion lies a deep longing for connection. Early in the film, Teddy looks at his dying bees and sees similarities with humanity: “A dead colony atomized in a trillion directions with no way home again.” By the end, it’s clear the director has seen the same thing.
As a Samsung phone user of more than a decade, I still mostly hate using Samsung TVs. The stupid interface is annoying and hard to navigate, the apps are not that great, and I often stumble into some random section or other when I’m looking for something basic, like an input button, on the remote.
The screen on Samsung’s flagship S95F QD-OLED is so utterly gorgeous that none of this matters. Gorgeous black levels, insane colors, and a truly cinematic matte screen make this TV the prettiest I have ever laid eyes on for an extended period. If you’re at the poshest end of posh when it comes to home theaters, this is the model for you. Just plug in an Apple TV 4K or Roku Ultra.
“Infinity One”
Photograph: Parker Hall
I am not sure what this means, but it’s what Samsung calls the design language of its latest flagship screen, offering us a hyper-thin display that can mount flush to the wall, thanks to a big all-in-one cable that can deliver power, picture, and sound to and from the display and to Samsung’s One Connect Box. This box plugs into the wall and can be placed somewhere more aesthetic than below your TV, for folks who like to hide away all the cables, and it allows easy access to peripherals like four HDMI ports, a cable or antenna connection, a network cable connection, and a USB port for powering streaming devices.
It’s a nice little setup that takes away the stress of tiptoeing behind the TV to plug and unplug stuff, but it does mean you’ll have to find a place to put it, which could be a downside for minimalist living rooms. For my review unit, I just put the thing on a coffee table in front of the TV; not super pretty, but extremely functional. If I were keeping this TV long-term? I’d probably put it down near my 4K Blu-ray player.
The included remote is small and not backlit, but it is solar- and radio-powered, which means that you’ll never have to struggle through the junk drawer for a pair of AAA batteries when you’re in the middle of a binge-watching session. I’d still love a backlight for the remote, though, because this TV is so incredible in dark spaces (more on this later).
Interface-wise, it’s the same annoying maze that I’ve been battling from Samsung for years. There are too many ads, and it feels clunky and old. The good news is that AirPlay 2 and Samsung Smart View come standard, so it’s at least easy to get your phone’s content onscreen. Onboard apps are fine and do stream well, but I prefer the speed of outboard streaming devices like the aforementioned Apple TV 4K and Roku Ultra for streaming on a TV this nice.
It’s always an exciting day when I get to try out a new mattress brand. Tiami comes from the founder of Leesa, bringing some serious credentials—Leesa’s Sapira Chill is our favorite hybrid mattress. Will Tiami be able to live up to its famous sibling? I’m a certified sleep science coach with more than five and a half years of mattress testing experience, and here are my thoughts after a week of sleeping on this bed.
What Makes Tiami Tick
Photograph: Julia Forbes
Tiami’s raison d’être is its special features meant to promote better pressure relief and full-body support. However, Tiami is not the first to make this claim. When I initially chatted with Leesa founder and Tiami cofounder David Wolfe, he explained that Tiami’s going after ultra-luxury brands like Hästens, Kluft, and Vispring, which Wolfe says are “great mattresses, but extraordinarily expensive.” (For reference, Hästens’ Vividus model costs $350,000. I’ve never tested a bed of this caliber, but I did once try to visit a Hästens storefront, where I was promptly asked to leave since I didn’t have an appointment.)
Tiami’s hybrid design starts with a 90 percent organic, Oeko-Tex certified organic cotton cover for natural breathability and softness. The brand really hypes up its “Mediterranean-inspired wave design,” a sort of embossed texture on the surface, as a luxury feature. However, I don’t think this matters. You’re going to be throwing a mattress protector and sheets over the bed; you won’t be able to appreciate the Santorini vibes.
The initial memory foam layer underneath uses a proprietary, temperature-responsive foam called Energex, which is supposed to react better to body heat than the usual foams out there to provide pressure relief and bounciness for when you move. Candidly, all memory foam is supposed to absorb heat to do this, but I found the Energex did a good job with these performance aspects—more on that in a minute.
Photograph: Julia Forbes
As for the rest of the mattress construction, another memory foam layer underneath helps supplement the Energex. Wolfe told me that instead of using glue, the foam layers are fused and then zoned and ventilated, so you can enjoy the trifecta of softness for pressure points, lumbar support, and airflow. After the foam, we then get to what I consider the star of this particular mattress’s show: the coils. In the Tiami, pocketed coils get an upgrade, too. Each has an Energex foam “cap” to really max out the pressure relief capabilities of this bed.
Looking to upgrade your wireless earbuds without reaching deep into your wallet? Our favorite earbuds for most people, the Nothing Ear (a) (8/10, WIRED Recommends) are currently marked down to just $79 when you buy them from Nothing directly. They may be cheap when it comes to dollars spent, but they have it where it counts, with great audio quality, an excellent feature set, and awesome battery life.
Photograph: Parker Hall
While the first-party offerings from both Apple and Google make for compelling options, the Nothing Ear (a) are great for both sides of the aisle. They feature painless pairing with either iOS or Android devices and have great touch controls for managing your music or volume. They’re also among the best for battery life, especially for the price, reaching 5.5 hours of play time even with noise-canceling.
The sound quality is really impressive, with custom-made 11-mm drivers that have a sound profile our reviewer described as “crip, clear, and dynamic,” so they’re perfect for listening to more open and delicate music. Jazz, classical, and acoustic songs all shine on the Nothing Ear (a), but you can use them for pop and rock and be just as happy.
They also feature impressive noise-canceling tech, with a full 45 decibels of sound reduction, which is great if you often find yourself trying to catch up on your podcasts on a busy subway. Our reviewer even appreciated them for traveling, noting that they do a good job of reducing the hum of an airplane engine.
There’s a slightly more expensive option as well, the Nothing Ear, which is currently on sale for just $99 and adds wireless charging to the case, plus a ceramic driver. That may sound appealing, but in practice, WIRED writer Parker Hall didn’t necessarily note a huge difference in performance, and the battery life is a little bit worse as a result, so we think the Nothing Ear (a) are a better value.
For under $100, the Nothing Ear (a) provide a remarkable amount of value, with great audio quality for music, excellent noise-canceling, and a platform-agnostic outlook that’s sure to appeal to anyone with lots of different devices. They easily compete with wireless earbuds at twice the price, earning them the top spot on our favorite wireless earbuds roundup.
However, Camera Coach—which launches in a preview (sort of like a beta)—has a Get Inspired button that uses generative AI to deliver some photos it thinks you might like to try and mimic. These photos are often quite a bit different from the originally scanned image, and I found these less helpful. I think Camera Coach is a great way to teach someone about their phone’s camera capabilities, because most people barely scratch the surface, but I don’t think this generative add-on was really necessary.
Then there’s Pro Res Zoom, which is conflicting. On the Pixel 10 Pro and Pro XL, you can digitally zoom in anywhere from 30X to 100X, and the phone runs through more than 200 frames, blending images, and using generative AI to fill in the details. The results are spectacular. Take a look at the image of the Chrysler building in Manhattan, which I captured from Greenpoint, Brooklyn, across the water at 100X zoom. I’ve compared the image with real photos of the Chrysler building, and the results match up. It still leaves a weird taste in my mouth. The composition is mine, but a part of me feels like it isn’t my photo. (Note: Google says it’s not designed to work on people.)
Pro Res Zoom (100X) on Pixel 10 Pro XL.
Camera Coach on Pixel 10 Pro XL.
Lastly, there’s video capture. Google has made strides over the years in improving the video output of its phones, but it has largely started relying on Video Boost. Once enabled, this sends your footage to the cloud for processing, making the clips brighter, sharper, more colorful, and better stabilized. (It’s exclusive to the Pro models.)
The videos I’ve shot in the past week do genuinely look great once they’ve been put through the Video Boost ringer, but I still find the iPhone delivers better native footage, with better stabilization. You also have to account for the fact that some of these boosted videoclips arrived the next day for me (though you still have access to the original). It’s a smart solution, but I’d like to see Google improve the native video capture. Case in point: The Galaxy S25’s video footage was brighter, less grainy, and better stabilized than the Pixel 10’s.
The AI Assist
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu
Finally, on to the software. It’s probably not a coincidence, but both Google and Apple redesigned their operating systems this year, and I think Google’s Material 3 Expressive design language came out on top. It’s bubbly, colorful, fun, and playful. Apple’s Liquid Glass feels a bit more stale to me.
There aren’t many all-in-one soundbar solutions that give you as much sonic immersion for your money as LG’s S95. Many modern soundbar brands prefer to sell high-priced single bars, with add-on speakers available for an additional fee. LG provides a subwoofer, dual surrounds, and LG’s unique mix of five (not four) height channels to put you in the center of the action for 3D sound formats like Dolby Atmos and DTS:X from the get-go.
The latest-model S95AR offers a modest upgrade over last year’s S95TR (8/10, WIRED Recommends), including a revamped subwoofer and a $200 price hike to go with it. It’s perhaps no coincidence that the S95’s biggest rival, Samsung’s 11.1.4-channel Q990, has also raised its price in recent years, keeping LG’s slightly less elaborate 9.1.5-channel setup the more affordable option at full price.
I still prefer Samsung’s warmer, more musical sound signature, but the S95AR is a thrilling performer that offers similar (if not better) value, along with exclusive features for owners of newer LG TVs. If you’re looking for a one-stop setup that gets you close to a multi-component home theater solution, but with much less hassle, the S95AR is among the best soundbars around.
Battered but Brisk
Photograph: Ryan Waniata
For the second time in two products from LG, the S95AR landed on my doorstep in a somewhat abused state, with notable dents to its metallic acoustic grille. The system seemed otherwise no worse for wear, and while its 50-inch width pushes to the edges of midsize consoles, its height of less than 3 inches fits neatly below most TVs. Setup was mostly uneventful, allowing me to get it connected and spinning sound through the four-piece system in short order.
I say mostly uneventful because, as was the case with the last LG soundbar I reviewed, the S95AR requires you to plug in its components in a certain order: subwoofer first, then surrounds, then the bar. I did not do this, and the left rear surround wouldn’t connect. Unplugging everything and reconnecting it in order fixed things (or perhaps it was just the power cycling), and I had no other connection issues over several weeks.
LG’s ThinQ app has grown up over the years, now standing as a capable and mostly stable control center for all software setup and settings. The app found the bar nearly instantly and made it easy to connect to my network, futz with speaker channel levels, and perform LG’s AI Calibration that tunes the soundbar to your space. You can easily change inputs or sound modes and “Effects” from Music and Cinema modes to Night mode for softening the bass when the kids (or neighbors) are tucked in.
There’s also a separate remote for many of these controls, but due to the bar’s lack of any real visual display, using it for anything more than a quick volume adjustment or input switch is a hassle, as you’re relying on voice cues. That could be helpful for those with accessibility issues, but otherwise, the app is your interface.
Fully Stocked
Photograph: Ryan Waniata
Nestled within the main bar are front, left, and center channels that handle the majority of your music and TV content, dual side-firing drivers to bounce sound off your walls, and a trio of “height” channels to bounce effects off your ceiling, including LG’s unique center height channel for enhanced immersion with Dolby Atmos and DTS:X mixes. You’ll get three more channels in each football-sized surround speaker, including front, side, and height channels, and an 8-inch side-firing subwoofer.
Wearing the Pro by Déesse Pro is like cosplaying the Phantom of the Opera—if the Phantom had better LED coverage and $1,700 to spare. With 770 lights, six treatment modes, and four wavelengths, it looks like the most advanced LED mask on the market.
But after six weeks of consistent use, I wouldn’t recommend it. It’s uncomfortable, inconvenient, and delivers results that are far less impressive than its theatrics.
Missing the Basics
Courtesy of Déesse Pro
The Pro is a hard-shell LED mask with six treatment modes: Anti-Aging, Purifying, Brightening, Post Procedure, Calming, and Anti-Aging Express. Sessions can be customized by adjusting the duration or adding red-light therapy. With 770 LEDs, it outnumbers any mask I’ve tested (Therabody’s Theraface Mask has 648), but more bulbs doesn’t mean better results.
Déesse Pro touts its 770 LEDs, six treatment modes, and the inclusion of green-light therapy (more on this later) as proof of superiority. But the company hasn’t published any clinical trials or results to back its claims. Instead, its website features anonymous before-and-after photos with no context or background information. The mask also isn’t FDA-cleared in the US.
Six treatment modes sounds intriguing, but in practice, I only ended up using three. Mode 4 is billed as a post-procedure setting, but it’s simply a combination of red, near-infrared, and blue light; that’s a combination most masks bundle into a general treatment cycle. Labeling it Post-Procedure actually made me less likely to use it. The Anti-Aging Express mode is also essentially a shortened version of the standard anti-aging mode, which feels redundant, considering you can adjust the lengths of sessions.
I followed the brand’s recommended regimen—two to four sessions a week—for optimal results. Despite the consistency for six weeks, the payoff was underwhelming. My skin tone and acne breakouts looked no different than usual. I wasn’t expecting a total makeover, but for $1,700 and hours of my life, I anticipated visible results.
TL;DR: This SGT Auto Transport review covers my real experience shipping my SUV round-trip from Delaware to California for a 3-month business project. What would have cost me nearly $6000 in rental fees ended up costing just $2,300 with SGT Auto Transport. Here’s exactly what happened and why I’d use them again.
When I needed to transport my SUV across the country for an extended work project, I had no idea that professional vehicle shipping would save me thousands of dollars and countless headaches. This detailed SGT Auto Transport review breaks down my real experience, costs, and why their service exceeded my expectations.
Why I Needed Professional Auto Transport Services
The famous Lone Cypress on 17 Mile Drive in Pebble Beach, Monterrey | Photo: Better Living
Running a production company means I’m constantly weighing efficiency against costs. When I landed a project capturing lifestyle and tourism content across the West Coast, I faced a logistical challenge that many business owners encounter.
I drive an SUV specifically because my partner and I do extensive road trips, and our camera gear, luggage, and equipment has a perfect packing system. We’ve got everything dialed in. (Check out our essential road trip tips for local travel!) But this project was different, it required 3 months of bouncing between West Coast cities, and shipping a vehicle across the USA made more sense than driving cross-country when I’d already be doing thousands of miles during the actual work.
My transportation options were:
Long-term SUV rental: $5,900+ for 3 months (including insurance) – see our budget road trip tips for cost-saving strategies
Fly and rent locally: Constantly rearranging gear in different rental cars
Drive cross-country both ways: 6+ days of driving time I couldn’t afford
Professional car shipping: Only research required
The Rental Car Sticker Shock That Changed Everything
When I got that $5,900+ quote for a 3-month SUV rental with insurance, my immediate reaction was “Are you kidding me?”
I understand long-term rentals aren’t cheap, but nearly $6,000 was way beyond reasonable. Plus, anyone who’s tried cramming multiple pieces of luggage into rental cars knows it’s like playing Tetris every time you load and unload.
Having done countless local road trips, I knew exactly how our gear fit in our SUV. The thought of spending 3 months constantly rearranging equipment in unfamiliar rental vehicles sounded like a productivity nightmare.
Finding SGT Auto Transport: Why Their Calculator Beat the Competition
I started researching car shipping companies, and honestly, most websites were frustrating. Half had confusing pricing structures, others had quotes that seemed too good to be true (obviously sketchy), and many required jumping through hoops just to get basic information.
Then I discovered SGT Auto Transport’s car shipping calculator. Their system was refreshingly straightforward. I entered Wilmington, Delaware to Los Angeles, selected my SUV specifications, and received an instant quote of $1,150. No games, no “call for pricing,” just transparent numbers. Try their calculator below!
Try SGT’s Instant Quote Calculator
Get real-time pricing for your route in seconds. No email or credit card required.
User-friendly technology: Their website actually worked like a modern business
Transparent pricing: No AI chatbots or pushy sales tactics
Honest quotes: While competitors had suspiciously low prices, SGT’s felt realistic
Zero upfront payment: Unlike competitors demanding deposits, they only charge when assigning a driver
Proven track record: 76,000+ customers with genuine reviews that matched my needs
Years of experience: They’ve shipped over 100,000 vehicles.
SGT Auto Transport Review: The Complete Shipping Experience
Professional auto transport in action – this is exactly how SGT Auto Transport shipped our SUV from DE to CA
Pickup Process in Wilmington, Delaware
The pickup was smooth and easy. The driver called about 2 hours before arrival and they found our place without any navigation issues. The entire process took approximately 20 minutes:
Vehicle Inspection: We meticulously documented every existing scratch and ding on the Bill of Lading Professional Loading: These drivers clearly had extensive experience and proper equipment Clear Documentation: I received tracking information and direct driver contact details
I’ll admit, watching them load our car onto the carrier made me slightly nervous, but their process was obviously well-practiced and professional.
Real-Time Transport Monitoring
My primary concern was simple: Would my car arrive on schedule and in identical condition? SGT Auto Transport’s tracking system eliminated those worries completely.
I received updates when my vehicle hit major waypoints and even proactive communication about a weather delay in Colorado that added one day to the timeline. I appreciated being informed without overwhelming unnecessary updates.
Delivery in Los Angeles
Five days after pickup, I received the delivery call. The driver met me at our hotel and we conducted another thorough inspection. Everything was perfect. Not a single new scratch or issue. Exactly the same condition it left Delaware.
SGT Auto Transport Cost Analysis: My Real Savings Breakdown
Here’s the actual numbers that made this decision obvious for my business. For more detailed insights on making smart financial choices, check out our financial planning guide.
SGT Auto Transport Total Costs:
Delaware to California shipping: $1,150
Return shipping (CA to DE): $1,150
Total shipping cost: $2,300
Long-Term Rental Alternative:
3-month SUV rental: $5,115
Rental insurance upgrade: $866
Total rental cost: $5,981
My actual savings using SGT Auto Transport: $3,681
But the financial benefits were just the beginning of why this SGT Auto Transport review is so positive.
Unexpected Benefits of Professional Vehicle Shipping
San Francisco’s vibrant downtown district at sunset | Photo: Better Living
Perfect Equipment Setup: Our camera gear, luggage, and supplies fit exactly where they always do. No daily Tetris games with unfamiliar rental car configurations that waste time and create stress.
Familiar Driving Experience: Navigating San Francisco hills and LA traffic in my own SUV versus learning rental car quirks made a significant difference in daily productivity and stress levels.
Operational Efficiency: Having everything configured exactly how we prefer made 3 months of constant travel significantly more manageable.
Return Shipping: Equally Professional Service
For the return trip, I already trusted SGT’s execution, so rebooking through their online system was simple. The return shipping from California back to Delaware was even smoother than the initial shipment – same professional service, same attention to detail, delivered directly to our Wilmington driveway.
Who Should Consider Professional Auto Transport Services
San Francisco’s iconic waterfront and heart sculpture at Fisherman’s Wharf | Photo: Better Living
Based on this SGT Auto Transport review and my direct experience, car shipping services make excellent sense for:
Business travelers on extended projects (30+ days)
Content creators requiring reliable transportation and equipment storage
Anyone with specialized vehicle configurations they don’t want to replicate in rentals
Multi-city projects where cross-country driving cuts into productive work time
Cost-conscious travelers who’ve calculated that shipping beats rental mathematics
Why SGT Auto Transport Leads the Industry
With over a decade of experience and 76,000+ satisfied customers, SGT Auto Transport has established itself as the gold standard for professional vehicle shipping services. Their comprehensive approach combines innovative technology, transparent pricing, and exceptional customer service.
What Distinguished SGT Auto Transport in My Experience:
Zero upfront payment – No money required until they assign an actual driver
SGT Auto Transport delivered exactly what they promised with zero complications. For business owners who value efficiency, predictable costs, and professional service, they represent the obvious choice for cross-country vehicle transportation.
See also
What They Delivered Perfectly:
Transparent pricing that matched initial quotes exactly
Professional execution from pickup through delivery
Reliable timeline with proactive communication about any delays
Perfect vehicle condition – zero damage or issues
Business-friendly approach that understood project requirements
Why I Recommend SGT Auto Transport:
Functional website technology that actually works properly
Honest pricing structure without suspicious low-ball quotes or hidden fees
Demonstrated track record that shows in their professional execution
Excellent communication throughout the entire shipping process
Planning Future Projects with SGT Auto Transport
Historic Carmel Mission Basilica | Photo: Better Living
I’m already planning my next multi-city content creation project, and SGT Auto Transport will definitely be my first contact. They’ve proven they can handle logistics professionally while I focus on revenue-generating work.
Business Owner Tips for Professional Car Shipping
Exploring the Winchester Mansion in San Jose | Photo: Better Living
💡 Based on my SGT Auto Transport review experience:
Calculate real costs – include gas, wear and tear, and time value
Research thoroughly but avoid analysis paralysis
Trust companies with transparent websites and clear pricing
Document everything with photos before pickup – see our packing tips for preparation strategies
Factor productivity value – your time generates income
Maintain healthy habits during business travel – check our healthy habits guide for wellness tips
Bottom Line: Why This SGT Auto Transport Review is Positive
A beautiful sunset during our stay in Carmel-by-the-Sea | Photo: Better Living
For my 3-month West Coast project, SGT Auto Transport saved me $3,500+ compared to long-term rental while providing the convenience and efficiency of my perfectly-organized vehicle setup.
If you’re a business owner requiring reliable vehicle transport for extended projects, SGT Auto Transport delivers exactly what they promise with professional execution.
Their combination of transparent pricing, proven reliability, and business-focused service makes them my top recommendation for anyone considering professional auto transport services.
Ready to Experience SGT Auto Transport?
Get your instant quote using their free calculator. No email or credit card required!
Want to learn more about vehicle shipping? Check out our comprehensive guide on how to ship your vehicle across the USA for detailed information about the entire process, costs, and what to expect.
Looking for more travel inspiration? Explore our guide to weekend getaways from Philadelphia for local Delaware and tri-state area adventures.
Frequently Asked Questions About My SGT Auto Transport Review
How accurate was SGT Auto Transport’s initial quote?
Completely accurate. The quote I received from their calculator was exactly what I paid for each leg of shipping. No surprise fees or price changes.
Would you use SGT Auto Transport again for business projects?
Absolutely. They’re already my first choice for future cross-country content creation projects. Their reliability and professionalism exceeded expectations.
How did SGT Auto Transport compare to rental car costs?
SGT saved me $3,500+ compared to long-term SUV rental. Plus I had my own familiar vehicle with perfect equipment setup rather than constantly adapting to rental cars.
What was the biggest benefit beyond cost savings?
Having my own vehicle with our own familiar storage and comfort was amazing. No daily luggage Tetris with rental cars!
Any concerns about vehicle condition during shipping?
My SUV arrived in identical condition to pickup. SGT’s professional handling, insurance coverage, and tracking system eliminated any worries about damage.
How was SGT Auto Transport’s customer communication?
Excellent. Perfect balance of informative updates without overwhelming messages. Proactive communication about weather delays showed their professionalism.
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Then there’s the display notch, where the webcam sits at the top of the screen. It’s still an eyesore—and during my testing, it covered up dialog boxes more than once. Also, the MacBook Pro fan has always been extremely loud under load, and it’s just as noisy today, and the power brick is still white, even if your laptop is Space Black.
These aren’t fresh concerns, and they’re all minor complaints next to a fresh, weightier concern: At 4.7 pounds, the MacBook Pro M4 feels very heavy—and sure enough, it’s a full half-pound heavier than the M3 Max version I reviewed exactly a year ago. However, inexplicably, it is still 19 millimeters thick. Where has that extra half a pound gone? Must be the tantalizing internal upgrades that are going to blow our minds, right?
Power Boost
The obvious upgrade is Apple’s new M4 Pro CPU, which is the mid-level offering between the standard M4 and M4 Max, not including a rumored M4 Ultra in 2025. The new features on the M4 silicon are too numerous and too nerdy to list here, but the short of it is that you’re getting more cores on both CPU (14 on this configuration) and GPU (20), and (also as configured here) 48 GB of unified memory, which is designed to speed up everything from video processing to DNA sequencing, if that happens to be your hobby.
Naturally, there’s the amply hyped, upgraded Neural Engine, now at 16 cores, designed to power on-device AI workloads (and the new Apple Intelligence) at three times the speed of the M1. My tested configuration also added a 2-terabyte solid-state drive, so this rig is about as loaded as it gets.
Aside from the motherboard, there are new features that may be more immediately visible—three to be exact. First, the USB ports support Thunderbolt 5 (120 Gbps/sec) for faster data transfer speeds. A new 12-MP webcam features “Desk View,” which lets you share a livestream of your desk while you’re screen-sharing. Lastly, there’s a “nano-texture” screen upgrade option, which is Applespeak for its glare reduction technology that debuted on the Studio Display. I have the feature on my test machine, and if nothing else in the MacBook Pro M4 gets you excited, this should. It makes the screen feel like you’re looking at a photograph. (The upgrade will cost you $150.)
If you have a family and you like to be outside, you should have walkie-talkies. In a lot of places where cell coverage is spotty, you need a better way of keeping track of each other than running back and forth and yelling. Kids love walkie-talkies. There’s nothing that my 9-year-old likes better than signaling back to base camp, “Come in, come in, make me cinnamon toast, over,” when she’s halfway through her hike.
I know this is not necessarily the intended use case for the Rocky Talkie, the super-popular and super-rugged backcountry radio that my friends use for backcountry skiing and ascending multi-pitch climbs. But kids are a lot harder on gear than many adults. We’ve been testing the Rocky Talkies on weekend trips all summer, dropping them while clipped to my backpack and running around in the rain.
We’ve tried walkie-talkies from several other brands, including cheap ones from Amazon and the standard Midland walkies, but the Rocky Talkies are my favorite, even if—and probably because—they are much more expensive than other options.
Loud and Clear
The Rocky Talkie comes in two different configurations. The Mountain Radio that we tested uses the FRS, or Family Radio Service band that the Federal Communications Commission reserves for most recreational walkie-talkie users. This is why you don’t usually pick up radio stations or big rig CB conversations on your walkie-talkie (although I have found that you still can if you try)
Photograph: Adrienne So
It also comes in a more powerful GMRS version that has IP67 submersible waterproofing and slightly longer battery life. Technically, you also need a license to operate the GMRS version, which I had no interest in procuring for my 9-year-old and 7-year-old. The Mountain Radio, on the other hand, is easy enough that my kids opened the box, turned them on, and started running around using them without me. Which, to be clear, is great!
Probably the most obvious difference between the Rocky Talkie and other radios is that a lot of two-way radios are just handhelds or use gator clips to clip onto your clothing or backpack straps, but the Rocky Talkie has an ultralight carabiner. I loved this. I have little pockets and wear little shorts. If I walk around with a walkie-talkie clipped onto my clothes, the walkie often slips off when I sit down and I lose them in the rocks. I love knowing that neither my loved ones nor I are going to lose or drop these.
Jewelry that doubles as a vibrator is nothing new. If we go way back—I’m talking ancient Rome—there’s a good chance someone, somewhere along the line, used a piece of jewelry to rub one out just for the heck of it. After all, the Romans were known to be quite creative when it came to sexual pleasure.
But it wasn’t until the 2014 launch of the Crave Vesper, a necklace that contained a mini vibrator to stimulate all your favorite erogenous zones, that the union of jewelry as vibrators or vibrators as jewelry became a legitimate product. A product, I might add, that everyone wanted in their collection of jewels and vibes.
Now, 10 years after Crave Vesper hit the market, we have Unbound’s take on the concept. This time, it’s a stylish, eye-catching statement ring called Flick. Flick’s launch date is no accident. As the world celebrates the 100th anniversary of the cocktail ring, Unbound wanted to come up with a piece of jewelry that not only pays homage to the iconic cocktail ring but also to the cultural revolution of the 1920s. It was a complicated time for women as they tried to navigate how to harness self-expression authentically against a backdrop that had yet to allow all women to vote. Flick embodies that spirit of boldness and celebration, inviting modern-day adventurers to explore their sensuality in style.
As Intense as It Is Discreet
Unbound is not a brand that’s new to me, which means I already knew I wasn’t simply getting a vibrator in a box with generic-looking instructions. But even for Unbound, the Flick’s packaging went above my expectations: clean lines, a commitment to only two colors—turquoise and pink—to enhance the overall aesthetic, nail art stickers, and a postcard signed by all the people who made Flick happen. It didn’t just look welcoming, it felt right.
Photograph: Unbound Babes
Although I knew I needed to wait for a full charge to properly indulge in Flick as a vibrator, as a piece of jewelry there was nothing to wait for. I slipped on the ring and it fit perfectly. This isn’t because Flick is a one-size-fits-all ring but because it has four band sizes that can easily be changed with the included screwdriver.
Acclaimed portable audio brand Astell & Kern has engaged in what I’m going to call a “reverse Toyota.” The Japanese hero of affordable, reliable motoring wanted a piece of the premium automotive action, and so developed an entirely new luxury brand called Lexus. (Fun fact: The brand name stands for “Luxury Export US.”)
Astell & Kern, having established itself as the planet’s leading purveyor of high-performance, high-bling, high-priced, high-resolution digital audio players, has developed Activo. It’s a subbrand that allows Astell & Kern to compete in those areas of the digital audio player market it has long since abandoned in its remorseless drive upward.
Mind you, when you line up this P1 device against competitors from the likes of FiiO and Sony it doesn’t really seem all that affordable. Entry level is relative, and the P1 has been pitched into an area of the market that is, if anything, even more competitive than the rather rarefied areas Astell & Kern is contesting these days.
But then it’s not as if the Activo P1 hasn’t been equipped to compete; a quick glance at its specifications is enough to confirm it has what it takes. Is it worth the extra cost for Astell & Kern lite? That depends on how much you care about looks.
Photograph: Simon Lucas
Great Converters
The crucial digital-to-audio conversion of the P1 is taken care of by an ESS ES9219Q Sabre dual-DAC arrangement that’s able to handle digital audio files of up to 32-bit/384-kHz and DSD256 resolution. Amplification comes via the Astell & Kern Teraton Alpha system, which the company deems good enough for taking care of business in digital audio players costing 10 times as much as the Activo P1.
An octacore processor promises a slick and responsive user experience, and the interface itself will be familiar enough to anyone familiar with Android devices. The inclusion of the Google Play store as an embedded app means it’s easy to add to the collection of music-playing apps (Apple Music, Qobuz, Spotify, and Tidal, as well as a dedicated Activo player). Sixty-four gigabytes of internal memory is low, but the SD card slot can expand that by as much as 1.5 TB if you supply your own card.
I’m really starting to like ultrawide monitors. I’m the kind of guy who usually prefers to work in full-screen mode to reduce distractions, and a 21:9 aspect ratio is a bit silly for that. But the LG Ultragear 34GS95QE monitor has been persuading me. It’s stylish and dramatic, but it took me a while to realize why this screen resonated.
This Ultragear monitor has an 800R curvature. That number refers to the radius, in millimeters, of the circle the monitor’s curve conforms to, and let me tell you, 800R is a low number for ultrawide monitors. Like really low. That means this monitor is exceptionally curved. The MSI QD-OLED model I tested a while back had a much more subdued 1,800R curvature, which is a more common number for curved monitors.
That made the LG Ultragear striking the moment I pulled it out of the box. The longer I used it, the more it just felt right. It’s not without its annoyances, but now that I’ve used such a curved OLED display, it’s hard to go back.
Perfect Placement
The LG Ultragear 34GS95QE achieves perfect black levels and striking contrast, which isn’t too surprising given its OLED panel. The 800R curve made it feel a little sharper than I was expecting. It took me forever to figure out why, but it’s because the sides of the monitor are physically closer to my eyes.
Photograph: Eric Ravenscraft
That might not sound like a huge deal, but consider how often you’re looking at something other than the center of your screen, especially while gaming. In Overwatch 2, one of my most-played games, the elimination feed is a crucial element that sits in the upper-right corner of the screen. Meanwhile, my health is on the bottom left, and my abilities are on the bottom right. Heck, almost all of the game’s HUD elements are in one of the four corners.
It’s an extremely subtle change, but with curvature this stark, all those elements felt easier for my eyes to focus on. This is likely true in a literal sense, since my eyes are roughly the same distance from every part of the screen, something that’s not quite true of flat-panel displays. Making micro-readjustments in fast-paced games dozens of times a minute can wear on the eye muscles.
The ubiquitous KitchenAidstand mixer—domestic icon, home cook must-have, subject of tattoos and even master’s theses—has rarely been controversial. Content to sleep tucked away within cabinets waiting to make cookies or birthday cakes, this century-old staple has garnered little public criticism for anything other than its price. (The standard 5-quart tilt-head Artisan costs $350; stand mixers from other brands run around $100.)
That all changed with this year’s Design Series release: the Evergreen. Unveiled in September, this zhuzhed-up tilt-head Artisan model is an appealing matte army green with a brass attachment insert cover, 5-quart pure walnut bowl (sustainably certified by the European Union Timber Regulation), and three steel accessories: paddle, dough hook, and whip.
It also costs $700—twice the price of a “standard” Artisan. Still, it’s hard to argue when KitchenAid has succeeded in making what might be the most attractive stand mixer of all time. And perhaps its most popular—KitchenAid says it sold out of its first run within a week.
The accompanying promotional video, featuring hikers and more than one instance of performative fern fondling, does little to dispel the opinion that this might be for people who don’t actually bake.
It was not immediately clear, though, whether many of the critics had actually used the mixer. As a longtime home cook and baker who has helped line-edit and recipe-test for several bread-related cookbooks, including a James Beard award winner, I know my way around a KitchenAid mixer (and have used an Artisan model multiple times a week for more than 15 years). I also use unlined wooden bannetons regularly for proofing bread, as well as wooden spoons and wooden cutting boards on a daily basis, so the idea of a wooden mixing bowl isn’t exactly farfetched to me.
For four weeks, I used the Evergreen as I would any other mixer, on a range of recipes—from meringues and cookies to bread and whipped cream—to see once and for all if the offending bowl is actually usable or if the Evergreen is, as other reviews have insinuated, simply a kitchen cosplay prop for the well-off.
Hey Good Lookin’
It didn’t take me long to find one problem: Unlike on the Artisan’s traditional stainless steel mixing bowl, the Evergreen’s wood bowl has no handle. However, in practice, this didn’t bother me as much as I thought it would, as I realized I’m really only ever using the handle to wrench the bowl off its base or to steady it when an especially difficult bread dough threatens to unseat it.
Second, the bowl’s increased maintenance needs cannot go unmentioned. The mixer comes with a card that says to wash and dry the bowl immediately after use—in other words, no soaking off cookie dough in the sink overnight—and to regularly season the bowl with food-safe mineral oil, wood polish, or walnut oil.
This raises another problem: Many baking recipes, like meringues and soufflés, require whipping egg whites to what’s called stiff peak stage, where a whisk dipped into the concoction and lifted leaves peaks that stand tall and do not flop over. This strength lends needed structure and body to baked goods, but stabilizing whipped egg whites is a notoriously finicky process, and any kind of fat, including oil, can prevent them from reaching this stage. (In fact, KitchenAid’s Evergreen FAQ explicitly says not to attempt “whipped egg creations” in the wood bowl.) Would the oiled walnut bowl really preclude Evergreen owners from making soufflés in their $700 mixer?
I’ve been wearing the Even Realities G1 glasses for four months, and while many people have commented on my new frames, only two friends asked if my glasses were “smart.” For someone who wore Google Glass in public and lived to tell the tale, this technological anonymity is high praise indeed. They look like glasses you might actually want to wear, and they don’t draw unnecessary attention to your (OK, my) face.
But as Clark Kent accessed his superpowers after taking off his spectacles, inversely, this mild-mannered reporter benefits from real-time language translation, access to AI, turn-by-turn navigation, and a personal assistant, all by keeping his glasses on.
Most smart glasses, like the Ray-Ban Meta, rely on Bluetooth audio, but the G1 features a small but brilliantly effective heads-up display called the Holistic Adaptive Optical System, or HAOS. Look carefully at the lenses and you’ll see a faint rectangle in each eye. This is where a micro-LED optical engine projector displays crisp, green digital text (640 x 200 pixels). Glance up (choose the angle via the app) and a seemingly two-foot-wide text homepage appears to float around five feet in front of you. Considering all this, it’s astonishingly clever given how light and, well, normal the frames feel.
The digitally surfaced lens is actually two bonded lenses but manages to be no thicker or heavier than a standard design. Prescription lenses cost $129 extra and, aside from the occasional glimpse of the projector screen in bright sunshine, works as well as any glasses I’ve ever owned.
Nestled on the end of each arm you’ll find two rubbery nodules. These contain the battery, buttons, and antennae that exchange real-time data with your phone over Bluetooth. They’re marginally heavier than standard glasses, but because the weight is kept away from the nose, they feel good. The frames are made from solid magnesium and have a cool matte finish, with the temples coated in silicon for added grip. Add in screwless hinges and a classic oval shape, and you’ve got a stylish proposition even before you charge them up.
Photograph: Christopher Haslam
The charging case is equally well designed and holds enough power to recharge the glasses 2.5 times. The 60-mAh battery in the glasses has enough power for 1.5 days.
So, they’re nice glasses—but what do they actually do?
Virtual Assistance
The idea of the G1 is not to replace your smartphone but rather to offer a pared-back interface that gives you help and information when you need it, then vanishes when you don’t.
After installing the app and syncing the glasses, when you glance up you will see a screen with the date, time, battery level, and upcoming diary dates (assuming you’ve given permissions). You can also receive messages and alerts from social and messaging apps. You can’t respond to any messages, though, which seems both odd and a shame given the onboard microphones and the transcription software used.
The right side of the main display is for QuickNotes. If you pinch the small box on the right arm, a note will flash up saying “Quick Note Recording.” When you speak, your words will be saved and displayed on the screen when you next look up. If you mention a date, time, or place, the AI assistant will add it to your diary. It’s great if you are a fan of voice notes. I’m not, but as someone who meets new people all the time but remains terrible at remembering names, I loved being able to have names, and even job titles, on display, for my eyes only.
Translation
Open up the Translate box on the Even Realities app, choose from one of 13 languages (including Mandarin, Japanese, and Korean), decide what language you’d like things translated into (in this case English), and press Engage. If someone then speaks to you in that language, the G1 glasses will listen, translate, and write the words on your HUD.
Annoyingly, however, it’s no Babelfish. With one-on-one conversations it worked OK, and I enjoyed understanding my wife’s rusty Spanish. Similarly, I had success rewatching Squid Game without subtitles. But without someone wearing their own pair and translating my English, it is one-way traffic.
To take up the slack, Trek routed the chain through not one but two idler pulleys. The result looks a little like a three-ring circus near the chain ring, but that added idler pulley allows the derailleur to do what it’s supposed to do, which is keep the bike shifting well.
Love at First Ride
I loved this bike off the bat because it felt nimble and fast and gave me the confidence to sail over a few steep lines that I normally avoid. On trail, I never felt the need to ride beyond level-two power, even on climbs, which added to its acoustic feel. The only place I could have used more of a boost was when riding home straight uphill on city street with a 13 percent grade.
Photograph: Stephanie Pearson
After multiple subsequent tests, I felt the same joy with one caveat: There was a consistent and nagging rattle that sounded like a loose wheel, but I could never isolate the source of the noise, which likely indicates that it was internal and perhaps coming from the battery or a cable rattling in the downtube.
To give the Slash+ a more robust test, I passed it on to Samuel Hayden, a former collegiate gravity rider at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado. After a 20-mile ride in mostly turbo mode on the double blacks of Piedmont (stuff I never ride), Hayden returned with a huge grin and with more than 65 percent battery power left in the tank.
On its weight and handling, Hayden reported that the Slash+ melded substantial power with a surprising lightweight build, noting it had a solid and reassuring connection with the trail and maintained stable flight during jumps.
His only major gripe? The 9.7 lacks a SRAM transmission, which tends to be more reliable for e-MTBs. But that problem is easily solvable, if you have an extra $4,000 on hand, by upgrading to the Slash+ 9.9 XO AXS T-Type.
The famous Lone Cypress on 17 Mile Drive in Pebble Beach, Monterrey | Photo: Better Living
