Setting Up Your Home Office

Whether you want them to or not, appliances are getting smarter. It’s increasingly challenging to find even basic models without some kind of “smart” feature or embedded artificial intelligence. If you don't believe me, just try to find a “dumb” television at your local Best Buy. You will be disappointed. While it's true that many of the “smart” features offered by these nifty new appliances are quite useful. The ability to pre-heat your oven or adjust your thermostat by pressing a button on your phone is great, and getting alerts when the fridge door is left open or when you forget to move your laundry from the washer to the dryer is undeniably a boon. But sometimes, th…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. While I’m a frequent reviewer of laptops and other computer-y type things, the gadgets that I care about the most are the ones I actually use on a regular basis in my day-to-day life. This year, I got big into showing off important memories with a digital picture frame, and into nostalgic handheld gaming with my first Anbernic device. But out of all the upgrades I’ve made to my life this year, the Ninja Creami was my easy favorite. What is the Ninja Creami?The Ninja Creami is different from a more traditional ice cream maker, which sits on your counter and constantly churns and freezes your liquid ice cream mixture until i…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. You don’t know how many times in the past few years I saw that mini thermal printers existed, considered getting one, and then decided, no, it’s too silly and I’ll never use it. Friends, I finally caved, and my only regret is not getting one earlier. I’ve only had this tiny gadget for about a month, but it’s gotten daily use in my house. With Christmas coming up, I use it to print gift tags and labels. I use custom stickers to make charts in my workout journal, and it’s even become the centerpiece of the Elf on the Shelf’s interaction with my daughter. (Yes, she still claims to believe, probably just for the entertainment …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Though the Kindle Scribe is already on its third generation, the first-generation model still has a place for anyone looking to nab one of these note-taking e-readers for less. Released in 2022, the original Kindle Scribe is still relevant in 2025 simply for its price. Right now, the 16GB version of the 2022 Scribe with the Premium Pen is discounted to $221.99 (originally $369.99), the lowest price this reader has seen since its release, according to price-tracking tools, and a great opportunity to snatch one for a bargain. The newer 2024 version i…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. One of the often unspoken truths of being a tech reviewer is you get to test out, recommend—and sometimes even keep!—gadgets that you would never buy for yourself, because you can't justify what they cost. This is why I tend to spend large portions of my reviews talking about price: I love a cutting edge gadget as much as the next nerd, but I have two kids and I live in the most expensive city in America. As much as I admire the Boox Palma 2 Pro, my budget doesn't really have room for a niche $400 e-reader. That's why the Xteink X4 e-reader, a minimalist 4.3-inch e-reader, is my tech upgrade of 2025: Here's a device that h…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Who knew that, here in the mid 2020s, a show involving gays in the military (even a relatively pro-army one) would prove its own relevance by drawing a fierce, angry denunciation from the current administration—a response strong enough that it maybe, just maybe, got the show cancelled in spite of high viewership and buzz. But then again, given the precariousness of the streaming landscape, it's best to treat everything like a miniseries these days. Based on a memoir from Greg Cope White, the Netflix series stars Miles Heizer as Cameron Cope, a closeted gay teen who follows his bestie into the Army in the era before "Don't…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Roku Sticks have useful features that can make your dumb TV smarter (or replace the interface on your smart TV), and they are seeing great discounts right now. In particular, the Roku Streaming Stick 4K with HDR and Dolby Vision is $24.99, the lowest price it has ever been after a 50% discount, according to price tracking tools. It's also my personal favorite option, and the one I would recommend to most people. …

Perhaps you completely forgot about the “Secret Santa” gift exchange, or your estimated delivery date got pushed back to 2026. Whatever your reasons, you’re in need of a last-minute gift, and your options are limited. If you're reading this at a time when it's too late for online delivery, and in-person store options are already closed, then all that’s left is the glory of your local 24-hour drug store. If you have access to a major chain like Walgreens or CVS, you could be in surprisingly good shape for this last-minute gift. All it takes is a little ingenuity to level up this gift from "a protein bar" to "a gym bro collection," or "some loose nail polish" to a "curated …

There are a lot of gaming handhelds to choose from right now, but the Steam Deck is undoubtedly a fan-favorite. Just as the Nintendo Switch introduced the world to console gaming on the go, the Steam Deck was the pioneer in bringing PC gaming to a handheld form factor—even if it pushes the definition of "handheld." Part of the initial appeal of the Steam Deck is its price: While you could choose a souped-up model with an OLED display and expanded internal storage, you could also pick up an LCD model with a 256GB SSD at a reasonable $399. For less than the price of a Switch 2, you could have something that plays the entire Steam library, with its huge variation in games. I…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. The Sony ULT Field 5 is currently $191.95 on Amazon, down from $349.99, and that price drop is what finally makes this speaker feel properly positioned. Sony ULT Field 5 Wireless Portable Bluetooth Speaker $191.95 at Amazon $349.99 Save $158.04 …

My Neato D5 Connected was once a willing workhorse, but, today, things aren't looking so good. I recently caught an email from the company alerting me that it shut down my vacuum's cloud servers. Now, my once capable Neato is just a LiDAR-equipped vacuum with a soul that's been deprecated. Without cloud servers, the "smart" is gone. This could be the lobotomized future awaiting Roomba users. Earlier this month, the company behind the pioneering smart vacuum, iRobot, filed for bankruptcy. The remainder of the business will go to its primary manufacturing partner—the one it owes all that money to—Shenzhen Picea Robotics. It's a stark reminder that the longevity of a connect…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. When you're using devices that are always connected to the internet, it's difficult to completely protect your privacy. Luckily, there are plenty of great privacy hacks for your iPhone, which you can use to make it hard for trackers and spies to collect your data and snoop on your business. From built-in solutions, like adjusting app permissions, to purchasing privacy screen protectors, here are 10 hacks every iPhone user should consider to protect their privacy. Get yourself a privacy screen protectorNo software privacy hack can protect you from people looking over your shoulder to memorize your password, or from peeking …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. In 2025, I tested a ton of exotic smart glasses, e-bikes, and other gear for Lifehacker, but the tech that upgraded and improved my day-to-day life the most is a more niche product. I'm a (very) amateur musician, and Yamaha's Seqtrak is my favorite thing this year. It's an "ideastation," a music production studio small enough to slip into a backpack. Look at how tiny this thing is: Credit: Stephen Johnson Yamaha SEQTRAK …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. The Pixel 10 came out in August this year, and at a $799 starting price, it was worth considering. Fast forward a couple of months, and now you can get one for almost half off, at $449. Amazon is discounting the flagship Pixel 10 (128GB) to $549, and there’s a promo code (PIXEL10) that drops it down a further $100. At under $500, this might be the best Android smartphone deal of the year. Google Pixel 10 …

Spotify playlists are a surprisingly big part of my life. I make a handful of new, curated, choreographed ones for the spin classes I teach every week and otherwise meticulously maintain quarterly playlists designed to represent the overall vibe of specific, three-month periods in my life. I only edit those during the 12 weeks of the quarter, then leave them alone so I can revisit them and relive the era. This means I am constantly fiddling with the present playlist to make it just right, searching for songs that feel precisely aligned with however I'm feeling. It's actually a time-consuming hobby—but I stumbled across a feature the other day that has made creating spin p…

Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. New Year’s resolutions are all about improving ourselves, right? The same goes for your best buddy—your dog. While your dog can’t physically tell you what they need to feel their best, there are simple things you can do to help set them up for success. Right now, you can save 50% off your first box of human-grade The Farmer’s Dog pet food, so that’s a great start. Check out these pup-centric resolutions and help keep their tail wagging into 2026—and for years to come. The Farmer's Dog Save…

If you received gift cards over the holidays, don't throw them in a drawer and forget about them. While many gift card scams involve thieves demanding payments—for everything from taxes and fines owed to outstanding utility bills—via prepaid cards, there's a less obvious type of fraud known as gift card draining. How gift card draining scams workIf you forget how much money is on a gift card you received a while ago, you're likely to check the balance online. You'll typically need to enter your card number and PIN or security code, but some websites that claim to provide gift card balances are actually collecting that information to use it later. Always use the official …

Skinny is officially back in—not that it ever really left, if you ask me. Between "what I eat in a day" videos and before-and-after transformations, there's always been this undercurrent of weight loss anxiety masquerading as wellness. "Weight loss" is assumed to be synonymous with "healthy," but that's never been the whole story. And during this time for reflection and goal-setting, I urge you to think bigger than simply making yourself smaller. If you've struggled to identify health goals beyond weight loss, you're not alone. We've been conditioned to believe that smaller bodies are the ultimate achievement, when in reality, health is so much more expansive, personal, a…

What kind of New Year’s resolution you make depends on your unique goals—which means you need a way to track your progress that is just as unique. If your resolution is to cut back on social media use and your friend’s is to run a faster mile, you won’t measure success the same way. Even if you swear 2026 is the year you spend less time on your phone (which I've sworn every year), tap into the power of handheld tech and use these apps to keep yourself on track. I like all the best general progress tracking apps, but when it comes to resolutions, you are looking at something time-bound and specific by its very nature, so you should try apps that are tailored more to what y…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Clicks, the company behind those physical keyboard cases for your smartphone, has announced a new device, but it'll look pretty familiar to anyone who's used a Blackberry before. It's called the Clicks Communicator, and it's a pocketable little handset that's perfect for anyone who misses having physical buttons on their phone. It comes with a full, old-school style QWERTY keyboard and runs Android 16, and while you can pump it full of apps and use it standalone, Clicks says it expects many of its customers will prefer to use it as a minimalistic companion to a primary smartphone. In that way, this device is designed to be…

If you've ever looked into trading in your smartphone for a dumbphone, you might have stumbled across Punkt. The German-based company's MP01 and MP02 phone were purposely not "smart;" rather, they were minimalist slabs of plastic, sporting a tiny display and an array of large, physical buttons. The point of owning a Punkt device isn't to sit scrolling on your smartphone for hours on end; it's to use your phone when you need to—privately, at that. The MP03 looks like any other smartphone at firstThe company's latest phone, the MP03, flips the script a bit. While there's still a focus on privacy and minimalism, this newest device is virtually indistinguishable from other A…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Black Friday sales officially start Friday, November 28, and run through Cyber Monday, December 1, and Lifehacker is sharing the best sales based on product reviews, comparisons, and price-tracking tools before it's over. It's Cyber Monday, and Lifehacker is sharing the best sales based on product reviews, comparisons, and price-tracking tools before the sales are over. Follow our live blog to stay up-to-date on the best sales we find. Browse our editors’ picks for a curated list of our favorite sales on laptops, fitness tech, appliances, and more…

AI is everywhere! Writing essays, editing photos, producing social-media slop, doing your browsing for you, making plenty of mistakes—and now, if you've installed the latest Android 16 update (currently rolling out to Pixel phones), summarizing your notifications so you have less text and fewer alerts to wade through. The new summarization feature, as per Google, will "help you cut through the clutter and stay focused," and give you "quick understanding and context at a glance." I'm all for cutting through the clutter, so as soon as the update landed on my own Pixel device, I decided to enable the feature and see how useful it really is. How AI summaries work, and how to …

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Rockstar fans might be all-in on waiting for GTA VI, but Grand Theft Auto is far from the only big title the company makes. One of Rockstar's most impactful games, Red Dead Redemption, turned 15 in May. All these years later, it's still very much worth your time—if critics and fans have anything to say about it. On Tuesday, Rockstar announced some big news for the first Red Dead: First, anyone who owns a copy of the game for PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch, can now upgrade to the PS5, Xbox Series X|S, or Nintendo Switch 2 versions for free. That includes upgrades like 60 fps, upgraded visuals, support for HDR, and 4K r…

It’s likely you’ve heard of the Pareto principle (maybe even while reading my tips on how to be more productive at work or study more effectively). But do you really know what the Pareto principle is? To be honest, I only just started to get a grip on it fairly recently, because it's a lot easier to read about than put into practice. Also known as the 80/20 rule or the law of the vital few, it can be little confusing at first, but understanding and implementing it can truly transformative, helping you to better manage your time and get more done with less effort. Who doesn't want that? What is the Pareto principle?Basically, the Pareto principle states that 80% of your …