When your dorm room feels more like a home than an uninspired dormitory, it makes a huge difference in helping you settle into your freshman year.
That’s why we’ve spent more than 180 hours evaluating the best bedding, appliances, and other essentials to ease the transition from childhood home to college dorm.
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The humble bath towel is easy to overlook. A good one will dry you off and be forgotten till tomorrow. A great one is luxurious, a cozy bright spot in an otherwise mundane routine.
We’ve researched hundreds of towels and tested dozens, and we’ve recommended the Frontgate Resort Cotton Bath Towel since 2017 because it’s the softest, warmest, and most durable we’ve found. If plush terry isn’t for you, we also have other options.
A thoughtful gift needn’t be expensive to be perfect. In fact, a small kitchen tool, new charging cables, or even a really good pair of socks can have a positive impact on someone’s life. At Wirecutter, we’re constantly testing items, and we often find surprisingly awesome stuff that doesn’t cost much. We’ve curated the best gifts for $25 and under so you can give well without spending a lot. Although we made every effort to assure that all the items in this guide meet that threshold, prices can dance around a bit.
If you have a slightly larger budget, check out our guides to the best gifts under $50 and the best gifts under $100.
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When we test sheets here on the home-goods team at Wirecutter, we typically stick to white sets to keep our comparisons consistent. But inside our staff’s data-obsessed exteriors beat the bedazzled hearts of print-and-color-loving design nerds.
We believe printed bedding is one of the easiest, most affordable ways to change your room’s whole look, and here we’ve highlighted our favorite prints among the tried-and-true sheets we love.
An outdoor security camera can keep tabs on welcome (and unwelcome) visitors, package deliveries, and furry creatures helping themselves to a midnight snack in your garden. They can also be a powerful deterrent to prospective mischief-makers.
However, after reviewing dozens of cameras over the past seven years, we’ve yet to find a perfect model. Some are hard to place, some need to be charged frequently, and others require a subscription fee to be most effective.
If you want a completely cord-free option, we recommend the Arlo Pro 4 Spotlight Camera.
If you want something a little cheaper (and have an outdoor outlet nearby), we recommend the Ring Stick Up Cam Plug-In.
And if you want a camera that can light up the night, or at least your porch, we like the Eufy S330 Floodlight Cam.
If you’re going off the grid or prepping for an emergency, the Jackery Explorer 1000 can keep your electronic gear running for hours—or even days—at a time.
It’s roughly the same size and weight as a small microwave, and it provides a steady stream of power without the noise or exhaust of a gas-powered portable generator.
After researching and testing dozens of portable power stations over the past six years, we found that the Explorer 1000’s impressive max output, wide array of ports, easy-to-use interface, and rugged exterior helped it stand out from the competition.
After researching hundreds of gym bags and testing more than 30, we found that the King Kong Jnr Kong Bag is the best traditional gym bag for anyone who wants to bring fresh clothes to a workout and take sweaty clothes home again, without your gear resembling a fragrant swamp. It’s tough enough to last a lifetime, and its six compartments kept us organized.
