Tag: wired's favorite gifts

Ekster’s Stylish Wallet is Pocket-Sized Perfection

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If you worry about losing your wallet, you can pick up a tracker card for an extra $49. I opted for the Android version, which works with the Chipolo network to show your wallet’s last known location on a map. There is also an iOS version that works with Apple’s Find My network. Like all the best trackers, both versions allow you to ring your wallet from your phone, which is ideal when you have a train to catch, and your wallet has slipped down between the couch cushions. You can even set left-behind alerts, so you get pinged if your wallet goes out of range of your phone.

Battery life is up to six months for the iOS tracker and around three for the Android version. You can plug the iOS model in to recharge, but the Android tracker has a wee solar panel to keep it topped up. They are as thick as a couple of cards and fit snugly in the pocket on the back. I have never lost my wallet.

More Minimalist

While the Ekster Parliament is my favorite, I have tested some of Ekster’s other models. The Cardholder and Cardholder Pro ditch the leather exterior for an even sleeker finish and come in some fun colors and patterns like forged magma and carbon fiber. They retain the trigger and other features and are perfect if you prefer to travel as light as possible. I have given a couple as gifts, and my eldest uses the Ekster Cardholder and loves it.

Space is limited when you opt for a minimalist wallet like this, and there is no room for coins and only limited space for bills. But there are optional add-ons. Modular extras include a multi-tool card ($49), a cash clip backplate ($29), and a coin tray ($29). The coin tray is quite handy and can also accommodate a key, but you won’t want to add too many extras, or your wallet will bulk up.

Ekster Parliament Wallet (left) vs Ekster Cardholder Pro (right)

Ultimately, the Ekster Parliament has been in my inside pocket for several years now, and it still works perfectly. I never miss my fat old wallet, and I still enjoy pulling that trigger every time I reach for my card. The tracker has also been a lifesaver a couple of times, reassuring me that I left my wallet in my other jacket and not out and about somewhere. It is a little pricey, but it might just be the last wallet you ever need to buy.

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December 14, 2024
I Tried the Cheapest Sauna on Wayfair

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This sauna isn’t made of cedar but cheaper hemlock, which means you don’t get the same glorious cedar smell you’d be familiar with from more classic saunas. That said, the Canadian hemlock does have a nice woody aroma that has lingered after many months of use; it’s still a calming place to be, aroma-wise, even with all that sweat.

Quick and Painless

Unlike traditional saunas, which can take a long time to pre-heat, this infrared model is quick and painless. You press the buttons on the built-in thermostat inside the door to decide how hot and for how long you want it to run and it instantly begins heating. I usually give it at least 20 minutes to warm up the ambient temp of the tiny box.

The included thermostat goes to 149 degrees Fahrenheit, but I’ve only consistently been able to get it to about 145 degrees after 45 minutes of pre-heating. The timer counts down from 99 minutes, so you can have it pre-heat and then remain on for however long you want to sit in there. The sauna is lightweight and not well insulated, so I’d keep it inside if I didn’t have it in Portland, Oregon’s mild winter climate.

There are infrared heating panels behind, on the sides, below, and behind your legs for relatively even heating on the body. I found the floor heat can get a bit toasty if you have your feet right above the space beside a slat on the wooden floor, but otherwise, I was fully sweating as much and feeling as overheated after a similar time in a traditional sauna.

Photograph: Parker Hall

It’s nice to sit outside under the covered area, look out at my garden, and sweat it out for a few minutes before heading to my non-gross, non-gym shower. It truly feels like I’m at a spa. And I can pair to the built-in Bluetooth speakers and watch my latest shows or a YouTube meditation.

If you, like me, don’t have regular access to a sauna at the gym anymore and have discovered how much you miss heat exposure time, there aren’t many options as affordable and easy to set up as this. I’ve even moved it between houses with no issues (the movers didn’t have to disassemble it because it’s so light). How long it will last is a different question and only time will tell, but it has held up for me for several months.

You can’t share the experience with friends and loved ones, but that’s fine as I use my sauna time at the end of the day to wind down from social interactions. If you want to host sauna hangs at your house, you’re better off with a larger model or a traditional sauna, which of course, Wayfair also sells.

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December 11, 2024
Bose’s Wacky Open Earbuds Won Over My Reluctant Heart

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After testing the Bose long term, I began to unlock niche use cases that even the best noise-canceling buds can’t match. Dog walks are blissfully better, especially with any trace of wind, which can blast your ears when using transparency mode. I used to just roll with a single bud for those situations, with one ear open for awareness. Now, I recoil at the thought of settling for mono sound on our morning stroll, even if the traffic sometimes harshes the vibe.

I soon found other idiosyncratic ways in which these buds fill the gap, from working in the office or kitchen while chatting with my wife to strolling through a store or conversing with the neighbors over yard work. Why kill the tunes, when you can have it all?

Bose has been working on additional ways to give its pricey buds a higher value quotient. If you’ve got a new Bose soundbar like the Smart Soundbar (8/10, WIRED Recommends), the Open Earbuds can now double as personalized surround sound speakers, creating a sort of AR experience between the soundbar in the room and the surround effects in your head.

Maybe my favorite (and silliest) case for the Ultra Open came on a recent Thanksgiving trip to my wife’s parents’ house. American Football is a Thanksgiving staple in most households, but not theirs. There’s only a single basement TV, no cable or antenna, and no one else even casually interested. No matter! I had my Open Earbuds and my phone, allowing me to keep tabs on the games while still maintaining polite conversation. The pinnacle came while I casually imbibed a viewing of Tim Allen’s The Santa Clause, chatted with the family, and watched my alma mater win their first playoff game, all at the same time. Now that’s multi-tasking.

The Ultra Open Earbuds aren’t always the right choice, and many times they’re the wrong one. I think everyone needs a good pair of noise-canceling buds, and many may not be able to justify a second pair, especially one with a $300 list price. That’s higher than many flagship noise cancellers.

Even so, I can no longer deny the benefits of a good pair of open-ear buds, and these are the best I’ve found. To borrow a phrase, the Ultra Open spark joy, and I’ve come to rely on them on the daily. You win, Bose. I’m hooked.

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December 9, 2024
These Brilliant BenQ ScreenBar Lamps Are My Favorite WFH Accessory

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I review a lot of home office gear for my job, which means my workstation is in flux. A new desk today, another office chair tomorrow—you get the idea. The one constant over the last three years? The BenQ ScreenBar. You may have heard of BenQ before—the Taiwanese company makes excellent monitors and projectors—but this lamp is my number one work-from-home accessory.

The ScreenBar doesn’t take up any desk space, because it hangs over your computer monitor and brilliantly illuminates the desktop. It’s a simple little thing, but it brings me a lot of joy, and the company has been iterating on it, with the latest version being the ScreenBar Pro. I’m here to tell you that you should probably get one for your home office.

Let There Be Light

The ScreenBar comes in a few flavors: the ScreenBar, ScreenBar Halo, ScreenBar Plus, and the ScreenBar Pro. I have tested the original ScreenBar and the Pro—the Halo offers a backlight that pushes light behind the monitor if you want light on your desktop and the wall behind your computer screen. The Plus is the same as the standard ScreenBar, but it has a separate dial attachment to control the light’s settings rather than the touch controls on top of the lamp.

You can configure these lamps to your preferences by changing the color temperature and brightness or even toggling on an auto-brightness function so that it matches the ambient light in the room. But what sets the latest ScreenBar Pro apart from its siblings is the motion sensor. Now, a few minutes after I leave my desk, the ScreenBar Pro turns off. When I come back, it lights up my desktop—it’s as if it’s booting up my battle station. Rad.

These ScreenBar lights are designed to have minimal bleed so that those LEDs don’t blast your eyes, though you’ll want to make sure your monitor is at eye level to avoid them. There’s also not a ton of light bleeding on the monitor screen. That said, the only time I’ve noticed a glare on the screen is when I’m watching anything with dark content, like a moody video game or a movie. That’s when I turn off the ScreenBar to enjoy my OLED monitor’s rich blacks and deep contrast.

I’ve not had any issues using these on all kinds of monitors either, including my current curved Alienware AW322QF 32-inch curved gaming monitor. The best part is you don’t have to use up a precious USB-A slot on your PC or laptop to keep the lights on—I just plug the ScreenBar directly into my monitor’s USB port for power. It makes the cable neat too.

So where do you place a webcam if you have a ScreenBar on top of a monitor? Well, I used to have my webcam slightly off-center, but it took some finagling and software adjustments to the field of view for it to look OK. The better solution is to just get BenQ’s Webcam Accessory. This sticks to the top part of the ScreenBar and you can balance your webcam on top. It does put the webcam quite high, but I was able to angle my MX Brio nicely so that it doesn’t look strange.

Leave No One Behind

The ScreenBar is pointless if you don’t have a computer monitor at your workstation. But if you exclusively work off of a laptop, BenQ hasn’t forgotten about you! Last year, I tested the LaptopBar, which mounts on the back of a laptop screen to illuminate the keyboard and work area for those late nights at the office.

There are some trade-offs in this version though. You need to stick a magnetic adhesive to the back of your laptop, which is how the LaptopBar stays affixed. When you don’t have the LaptopBar attached, there’s a permanent magnetic circle on the exterior, which doesn’t look great. The LaptopBar is also battery-powered and can last around two hours at full brightness, but you can plug it into your laptop to keep it running for longer (this will drain your laptop battery).

Still, it’s a tiny little lamp on the go, perfect for anyone routinely typing up in the dark. The lamp comes with a carrying case, can be dimmed, and offers warm or cool color temperatures.

All of this can sound a little silly—it’s just a lamp! Who cares! I know, I know. But the unique-looking ScreenBar series genuinely saves space on my already packed desktop. I also love light—I’m the one who likes to have the lights on around the house whereas my wife prefers to sit in the dark (I found her cooking in the dark once, which is just bonkers to me). So blasting my desktop with as much light as I want makes me feel happy at my workstation, especially in the months when the skies get dark a little after 4 pm.

It’s little, comfy things like this that make working from home such a joy. And not having to change into work clothes. Or commute. Or pack lunch. Well, you get it.

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December 8, 2024
Skip the Viral Hatch Restore 2 for This Brighter, Cheaper Clock

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Everytime someone finds out I write about sunrise alarm clocks, they ask me if I’ve tried the Hatch. Specifically, the Hatch Restore 2 ($170), which I’ve seen on gift guides left and right this holiday season. It’s a good device, but personally, I think you can do better.

The Hatch Restore is great for falling asleep, and great if you want a sound machine. But if you really want to wake up easier, it’s not the one I recommend. My favorite sunrise alarm clocks both sell for over $200, which might be a bit more than you’d want to spend. But if you’re looking for something a little cheaper (and cheaper than the Hatch’s $170 price tag!) that can do all the same tricks, look no further than the Lumie Bodyclock Shine 300.

Bedtime Brightside

The way sunrise alarm clocks work is that they slowly brighten over the course of a set amount of time. Both the Lumie and Hatch default to start at around 20 minutes, and you can customize it to be longer or shorter to slowly wake you up. It simulates a sunrise, but right next to your face and at your preferred time rather than whenever the sun will actually be rising. It’s especially handy in these dark winter months, and if you need black-out curtains to fall asleep (or if you have a room with no windows, as I once did in college).

A sunrise alarm clock is supposed to replicate the sunrise, the very thing that makes life possible. So the ability to get nice and bright is a clear necessity. That’s my problem with the Hatch—it doesn’t get bright enough to wake me up in the mornings. I don’t have that problem with the Shine 300, which gets bright enough not only to wake me up, but to double as my bedside lamp in the evenings.

It just has one range of sunrise-like shades of yellow and white that it can perform, while the Hatch can do a full rainbow of lights like a smart bulb, but I found I really didn’t need green or purple mood lights on a daily basis. What I needed was something bright enough to wake me up, especially as a non-morning person.

It also has a wind-down routine, letting you customize a routine with sounds and dimming the light over your preferred course of time to help you get nice and sleepy. It’s one of my favorite features as someone who has just as much trouble falling asleep as she does waking up. I also like that I can click a button and activate the routine on the Shine 300 whenever I’m ready.

Little Quirks

Photograph: Lumie; Getty Images

The main downside to not getting a Hatch is losing out on Hatch’s larger library of sounds. The Hatch Restore 2 gives you access to 13 wake-up sounds and 24 sleep sounds, plus you can get extra content if you subscribe to Hatch+ ($5 a month). Everything with Hatch is set up through its app, which is easy to use.

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December 7, 2024
This Self-Heating Mug Keeps Things Warm—and Simple

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The Ember also came with a proprietary charging base that worked with its mugs only, while the Ohom has a wireless charging pad. The Ui3 mug has metal infused in the base that is heated by Ohom’s dual wireless charger. It works like an induction hob to heat the mug at 22 watts but can also charge phones, AirPods, and other small gadgets that support Qi wireless charging at up to 15 watts. This dual use helps reduce clutter on my desk, and I often use the pad to charge something else once my drink is finished.

As the temperature outside has started to drop, having a constantly warm mug of coffee at hand has been lovely. Crucially, unlike the Ember, the Ohom Ui3 is virtually indistinguishable from normal mugs. It’s the kind of Goldilocks mug I would pick out of a cupboard because it looks nice and sturdy, holds the right amount, and is pleasant to sip from.

The Ohom Ui3 comes with a USB-C cable that’s just shy of 5 feet long and a power adapter. The LED on the front pulses purple when it’s heating your drink and blue when it’s charging a gadget. Although the charging base can act as a regular Qi wireless charging pad, you can’t use other Qi pads with the mug. The pad heats a little to the touch when in use but not dangerously so, and it cools quickly.

Off the Boil

As much as I like the Ohom Ui3, there is room for improvement. The charging pad is ugly, with a safety warning on the top that tells you not to place any other metal objects on it and, weirdly, not to try wirelessly charging your phone face down. While the former is an understandable safety concern, I can’t help wondering who needs the second warning. It’s a shame, with such a lovely and unobtrusive mug, that the pad couldn’t emulate a regular coaster (many wireless charging pads do).

Photograph: Simon Hill

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November 14, 2024