Gadgets
fromFast Company
1 day agoPack lightly with these 3 inexpensive, multipurpose gadgets from Anker
Anker offers reliable, budget-friendly tech gadgets that serve multiple purposes, ideal for frugal travelers.
Whether you're going off-grid, need power during an outage, or are simply camping for the weekend, portable power stations are essential for keeping devices and appliances powered and ready to go.
SaunaBox SmartSteam XL, formerly known as SaunaBox Go, tries to close that gap with a pop-up, two-person portable steam room that sets up in under 5 minutes and packs away into a carry case when you're done. It sits somewhere between a camping structure and a private wellness retreat, which sounds like a strange mix until you're sitting inside at 130°F with 100% humidity and the whole thing starts to feel more like an onsen than a tent.
As someone who spends a lot of time outdoors (and someone who got hit with Lyme disease), it's astonishing how often I forget to apply insect repellent. Just the other night, I spent the last half of a five-mile walk in a thick, annoying cloud of houseflies. Irritating, but at least they don't bite. Not like horseflies... Now those things know how to bite! I've watched them land on my sleeve and start gnawing through the fabric.
Try as we might, it's not always easy to keep up with it all, and sometimes, it can be a challenge to give everything the attention it deserves. In our new Shifting Gear series (see what we did there?), we'll be highlighting products that have just arrived, we're excited to try out, or that we're particularly stoked to tell you about but haven't had a chance to review yet.
You should buy a dehumidifier. It will almost certainly improve your home environment. Pulling moisture from the air helps banish condensation and mold, making it cheaper and easier to regulate the temperature in your house or apartment. There's a reason the chatter about dehumidifiers has grown so loud and sales are soaring; it's because they work. Whether you've seen a persuasive Reddit thread, a life hack on TikTok, or an expert guide to the best dehumidifiers, the hype is real.
Laptop cooling pads have been around for decades, and the idea has always been simple: provide extra air to blow through a laptop that's otherwise restricted by its own cooling system. In theory, more air means lower temperatures-and, ultimately, better performance. This is the whole idea of the power modes that exist in Windows, which ramp up the RPMs (rotations per minute) of the fans to add more air to both improve performance.
Frequent flyers develop rituals. Not superstitions, but systems, small corrections built over dozens of boarding passes and red-eye recoveries that separate a tolerable trip from a miserable one. The gear that survives this process tends to be invisible in the best sense: compact enough to vanish into a carry-on, functional enough to earn its pocket space, and designed with the kind of restraint that does not scream "gadget" at TSA.
The latest leak, courtesy of tipster Digital Chat Station, suggests the OnePlus 15T will support magnetic wireless charging. The tipster claims the device will also be compatible with Apple's magnetic charging ecosystem.
The Unix UX-1519 NEOM power bank is different as it takes industrial design into the mix of solid functionality, often customary to a battery bank. The 10,000mAh battery bank for your power-hungry gadgets delivers 22.5W fast charging for compatible devices, never letting you down when on-the-go.
Recently, I've been testing rechargeable hand warmers, and to be honest, most of them are junk. Some were dead on arrival, others failed after a few hours, some had absurdly short runtimes, and others got dangerously hot. I've found a few good ones, but they're rare. What I've been searching for is a hand warmer that combines fast USB-C charging, water resistance, power bank functionality, and the ability to handle extreme cold.
February is here. The "New Year, New Me" energy has officially worn off, replaced by a much more realistic "New Year, Same Me, But Freezing" thanks to a very disrespectful wind chill a heating bill that's starting to look like a phone number.
I got to take a look at the Ice Leopard X1 at CES, and it's a surprisingly slim machine, with a similar countertop footprint to a coffee maker. You can remove the ice bucket and put a lid on it, which a company representative said will keep it cold for four hours. Filling the bucket completely takes about an hour.
The Snap-n-Charge is small as power banks go, and only 3,200 mAh/16 Wh. This is good enough for a quick top-up of a smartphone or headphones. And a top-up is what you get -- the capacity is enough for about a 50% top-up for a smartphone or portable speaker, or about three or four recharges of earbuds or headphones. The power bank is housed in a polymer shell that shrugs off impacts and damage from being rattled around pockets and bags with things like keys.
Right now, one of the best cheap and practical Presidents' Day deals I've found is Anker's Nano USB-C wall charger for just $10. It's a 50% savings in the white color, and the lowest price I've seen this adapter sell for. Price comparison site CamelCamelCamel also points out that this limited-time deal is the lowest the charger has been recorded as selling for.
If you've ever traveled with a sex toy, you may have endured the slightly awkward experience of TSA rifling through your bags-made worse if your toy starts vibrating mid-search. But it's more common than you might think; after all, 80% of adult American women and 45% of adult men now own at least one sex toy. Taylor Sparks, erotic educator and founder of Organic Loven, the largest BIPOC-owned online intimacy shop, recommends removing batteries or running down rechargeable ones before travel.
They do nothing to save you power Scam "power saving" devices are rampant online. These devices plug into an outlet and promise to "improve the use of energy," "extend the life of electrical equipment," and even "avoid illegal electrical waste." Sounds great, right? Also: This USB power meter I tested is shockingly accurate - especially for how cheap it is Well, despite the bold claims and the sticker on the front of the unit, they are too good to be true.
First and foremost, ease of use. Every time I've used this wireless keyboard, it connects instantly to my laptop with no re-pairing or fiddling with settings. The same is true for the mouse. Because both devices have a clear "1" and "2" channel Bluetooth designation, there haven't been any issues connecting quickly and efficiently each time I bust them out.