I’ve Tested Dozens of Smart Home Gadgets—These 12 Actually Deliver Spend enough time in this business and you accumulate a lot of smart home gear. My basement currently houses a graveyard of abandoned hubs, glitchy bulbs, and speakers that promised to change everything but mostly just took up shelf space. But somewhere between the hype …
I’ve Tested Dozens of Smart Home Gadgets—These 12 Actually Deliver Spend enough time in this business and you accumulate a lot of smart home gear. My basement currently houses a graveyard of abandoned hubs, glitchy bulbs, and speakers that promised to change everything but mostly just took up shelf space. But somewhere between the hype …
I’ve Tested Dozens of Portable Monitors — Here’s What Actually Matters in 2026 Last month, I found myself working from a cramped coffee shop in Austin, my laptop screen feeling impossibly small as I juggled a code review, Slack, and a browser full of research tabs. The guy next to me? He had this sleek …
Why I Spent Three Months Testing Noise-Canceling Headphones for You Let’s get something straight right away: noise-canceling headphones aren’t just about blocking out the world. When you work from home, share an office, or regularly find yourself in coffee shops trying to focus, the right headphones become a productivity tool—not just an accessory. I’ve spent …
The Real Deal on Ultrawide vs Dual Monitors: I Tested Both for 30 Days Each Last month, I found myself staring at my trusty dual-monitor setup—two 24-inch IPS panels I’ve been using since 2019—and wondering if I was missing out on something bigger. Literally bigger. Everyone’s talking about ultrawide monitors these days, and as someone …
Why Tech Gifts Hit Different for Modern Moms Mother’s Day 2026 is coming up fast (May 10th, mark your calendars), and if you’re still scrambling for gift ideas, I’ve got you covered. After 25+ years testing and reviewing tech gear, I’ve learned that the best gifts aren’t just flashy—they’re the ones that actually make daily …
Why I Spent Three Months Testing Ergonomic Chairs I’ve spent the last twenty-five years reviewing tech gear, from smartphones to servers, but nothing has had quite the impact on my daily life as the chair I sit in for eight to ten hours a day. When my lower back started protesting last winter—after decades of …
Why I Finally Stopped Hating Standing Desks I’ve spent the last 25 years testing gear for a living, and if there’s one category that’s consistently disappointed me, it’s standing desks. Not because the concept is bad—the science on the health risks of prolonged sitting is overwhelming—but because most standing desks are terrible. They’re overpriced, wobbly, …
I’ve spent the last two decades typing on everything from mushy membrane keyboards to custom-built mechanical boards with hand-lubed switches. After testing hundreds of keyboards and building more than a dozen custom boards, I can tell you one thing with absolute certainty: the switch is everything. You can have the most beautiful aluminum chassis and …
My Journey into Local AI Hardware I’ve spent the last two years obsessively testing local AI setups in my home lab, running everything from tiny language models to full-blown image generators on everything from Raspberry Pis to decked-out workstations. What I’ve learned might surprise you: the most expensive setup isn’t always the best, and you …