Gear-obsessed editors choose every product we review. We may earn commission if you buy from a link. How we test gear.
Tools and accessories to help you make the most of your living space.
This is Ryobi’s top-of-the-line mower, and its American-made construction is something we wish we saw more of. It delivers a tremendous cut area with its two 6-Ah (6-amp-hour) batteries providing a total of 12-Ah of capacity, and its X-shaped blade leaves a pristine surface in its wake. The straight-edge deck is polypropylene; it will never rust and needs very little care other than basic cleaning.
To work on a car—in most scenarios—is to jack it up off the ground. That’s great, but jack stands aren’t always the best solution. There are instances where they can block what you’re doing, damage your expensive floors, or not even be able to fit under your vehicle. The Jack Rod is a quick and compact alternative for getting your car elevated safely. It’s really as simple as it looks; with a corner of your vehicle jacked up into the air, it fits between the axles of the floor jack. Once in place, it can hold up to 2 tons.
Amazon’s largest smart display adds a 15.6-inch touchscreen command center to any room. When it’s not in use, the Show 15 serves as an infotainment center that displays family photos, upcoming calendar events, to-do lists, and sticky notes. Ask the built-in Alexa smart assistant a question or give the screen a tap, and you’ll bring the Show to life. There’s plenty of space to swipe through apps and control your smart home devices using your finger or voice. You can even connect your video streaming services like Netflix or Hulu to watch shows and movies. A 13-MP camera built in adds video chat functionality while doubling as an interior camera that you can access remotely while you’re away from home.
Think of this as the motorized Swiss Army Knife of cooking tools. Swap between one of its six detachable tool heads, and you can go from whisking eggs to crushing spices. Its functions include an immersion blender, a whisk, a dual-chamber spice grinder, a frother, a can opener, and a wine opener. And it blended effortlessly through hard aloe leaves and frozen berries in our test kitchen. Perhaps the best part: It cuts down on counter or cabinet space lost to your ever-growing collection of kitchen gadgets.
Sixty volts provide plenty of power, as we found testing Toro’s newest string trimmer. Slide in the 2.5-Ah lithium-ion battery and press the variable-speed trigger. The two-line head spins with more than enough torque for standard grass trimming, or you can turn the trimmer 90 degrees and use it vertically for cutting a notch through the grass along sidewalks and paved areas. Need more line? Bump the head, just like a gas trimmer. The variety of attachments makes this an even more productive tool, as you can remove the trimmer and mount a pole saw, cultivator, hedge trimmer, or stick edger.
The new Breeo Y-Series shares the smokeless performance of the brand’s other fire pits, but it’s both smaller and lighter than previous models. It features a handle on the body, positioned to balance the fire pit when carried in one hand at your side. We found it to be the easiest full-size, non-collapsible fire pit to carry. The handle makes the Y-Series easy to flip over to dump out the ashes as well. With regard to portability, you’re not going to hike with this or carry it far. But for RV camping, tailgating, barbecuing in the backyard, and similar uses, it’s ideal.
Made in Italy, the Nano looks as good as the pizza you’ll make in it. While it’s a freestanding oven, it does weigh about 65 pounds, so it’s best set up on an outdoor counter or table, unless you get the optional color-matched cart. The Nano has thick fire bricks lining the floor of the oven, with a heavy layer of insulation below to hold heat and keep the temperature stable. We were able to get over 1,000 degrees F, with temps on the fire bricks in the high 900s. Our Neapolitan pies came out crispy with a lovely crust, mottled with dark spots around the edges.
Traeger pulled out all the stops when it designed its new pellet grill. The Timberline includes a pellet-fired grill, smoker, oven, and induction cooktop side burner, creating somewhat of a full outdoor kitchen on our patio. Traeger filled the grill interior with stainless steel, for both the cooking grates and interior panels, which made it easy for us to clean up after grilling or smoking. With its WiFi connectivity, we were able to monitor cooking and adjust temperatures from our phone—a task made easier with four included meat probes, two wired and two wireless. The lower cabinet storage, as simple as it is, is one of our favorite additions.
The Bose 900 smart sound bar creates room-filling surround sound from a flat compact body. This 5.0.2 channel bar adapts to the room with the positional audio, creating a rich soundstage. Like during the city shootout scene and shattering glass in Heat, the Bose 900 drew us in by elevating layers of detail. Dolby Atmos and upfiring speakers give vertical height to something like the plume of an explosion. And when it comes to playing audio, there’s no shortage of connectivity with traditional Bluetooth support to streaming from services like Spotify, AirPlay, and Chromecast.
Ego’s cordless, 24-inch, two-stage snowblower is as competent as any gas-powered machine of similar size. Now, with two 10-Ah batteries, it’s got the power and capacity to handle an entire driveway; we used it to clear about 2,500 square feet of 6-inch-deep snow. The steel-framed Power+ is also both quieter and lighter than its fuel-sucking counterparts. Using it won’t hurt your hearing or wake the neighbors.
If you’re considering going electric for your next car, this adapter from Lectron makes the switch more feasible and appealing. It expands your charging options, since you can park and plug in at a Tesla Destination station on the road. The process is simple: Plug the male end of the charging cable into the female end of the adapter, and then connect the male end of the adapter to your vehicle as you would normally.
If you’ve been straddling the fence between a pellet grill and a gas grill, Camp Chef built the one you’re looking for in the Apex 24. Burning both gas and pellets, this hybrid unit is versatile. Use the pellet burner to smoke or cook low and slow, down to 250 degrees F, or fire up the propane burners to quickly cook burgers or sear a steak. Plus, it even features a propane griddle on the side. The pellet grill controls work with WiFi, so you can monitor and adjust your low-and-slow smoking sessions remotely.
This 20-inch handsaw cuts quickly and tracks nicely to a line. At the tip, the blade has 13 teeth to the inch, making for a smooth start. But the middle of the blade has nine teeth per inch for fast cutting. We tried it on pressure-treated lumber and white pine and found that it sawed quickly and neatly through both. Its induction-hardened teeth are tough enough to withstand knots (we also sawed through those), and its anti-stick coating will keep sap from sticking and rust from forming.
Wyze’s budget camera offers killer specs: impressive IP65 weather resistance, crisp 1080p resolution, and a wide 130-degree field of view work together to fully capture a space with tons of detail in an image. But its optional new CamPlus Pro monitoring system turns this standalone device into a complete home security device monitored by a live agent 24/7. If the camera detects motion while armed, you will receive a call in seconds asking you for a safe word. If you miss the call or don’t respond, police will be dispatched directly to your home. There’s no additional sensor requirements or contracts (just the $4 per month), so you can turn this feature on or off as needed.
In True Temper’s 18-inch Combo, we found a shovel that pushes as well as it shovels. Its ergonomic shaft helps reduce bending low when clearing heavy snow without reducing your leverage to lift it. The deep blade and its flat angle make it easy to slip under snow so you can scoop up a shovel full with less effort. To make this shovel more durable, True Temper incorporated a steel edge on the blade so you’ll get more than a couple of seasons out of it.
Honda’s new EU3200i packs 1,000 watts more power than the EU2200i we previously tested, without a significant increase in size and only 13 additional pounds. With all those extra watts, you now have the power to crank up the air conditioner in your RV and still run all the smaller devices you need. Honda also added Bluetooth connectivity to the EU3200i, so we can monitor performance, shut off, and check maintenance reminders on the generator from our smartphones. Like the previous version, the EU3200i is incredibly quiet (as low as 58 decibels), so it won’t disturb you or the neighbors.
After moving from Pennsylvania to Texas, one of our test editors was no longer required to run a front license plate. Without the identifier, he removed the unsightly plastic bracket it was previously installed to. Great news, but to do with the holes left in the front bumper? Bumper Plugs. These fill those ugly holes that were previously used to hold the plastic plate holder. And you can match them to your vehicle.
We pruned spirea and rhododendron to test these 20-volt pruning shears. They deliver a fast, crisp cut. Certainly that’s good. But what’s better is the effort the tool saves your forearm and wrist in the process. Yes, these pruning shears are larger and heavier than a pair of hand pruners, but the tool is a couple of inches longer too, providing more reach. It’s also faster than a hand pruner. Its brushless motor drives a powerful gear drive transmission that snips a branch in the blink of an eye. It cuts so quickly, you might get excited and be tempted to overprune.