The Best Bluetooth Audio Receiver for Your Home Stereo or Speakers

These days most mainstream audio electronics have Bluetooth connectivity built in. But if you have older home-audio gear, such as a beloved stereo receiver or a set of powered speakers, there’s a chance that either it lacks Bluetooth connectivity altogether or its Bluetooth reception is poor. That doesn’t mean you have to scrap your system and start over.

A Bluetooth audio receiver lets you pair your older gear with the latest Bluetooth audio sources—and the best ones give you great sound. The iFi Audio Zen Air Blue is our favorite due to its excellent range, exhaustive format support, and surprisingly good audio performance for the price.

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from Wirecutter: Reviews for the Real World https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-bluetooth-audio-receiver-for-your-home-stereo-or-speakers/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=RSS%20Feed

The Best Carpet Cleaners

Imagine six mud-covered, diaperless toddlers and an adult in a white-carpeted room. Serve the kids sugary drinks, peanut-butter-and-Nutella sandwiches, and chocolate ice cream with caramel syrup. For good measure, give the tots some colorful slime to play with, hand the beleaguered parent a bottle of red wine, and then step away for a couple of hours.

We simulated this not-inconceivable scenario to test how well carpet cleaners tackle the worst gunk, grime, and goo imaginable. The bad news: We had to throw out the carpet. The good news: Our picks—the Tineco Carpet One Smart Carpet Cleaner and the Bissell ProHeat 2X Revolution Pet Carpet Cleaner—cleaned up most of the stains we confronted them with.

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from Wirecutter: Reviews for the Real World https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-upright-carpet-cleaners/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=RSS%20Feed

The Best Bidet Toilet Seat or Washlet

People have strong opinions about washing their butts, but one thing is for sure: The Toto Washlet C5 is better than any other bidet seat at dialing in your exact preferences—pulsating or oscillating stream, warm or cool water, high or low pressure.

Thanks to the C5’s unique, intuitive controls, you’ll find it’s just as easy to disable the bells and whistles (if you’re in it only for the heated seat).

And if you’re new to bidets, don’t assume you need to dive in with a feature-rich model like the Toto. We’ve found that many people are perfectly happy with a simpler, less expensive cold-water model, and we have recommendations for those, too.

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from Wirecutter: Reviews for the Real World https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-bidet-toilet-seat-washlet/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=RSS%20Feed

Five Steps to Safely (and Legally) Fly a Drone

Flying drones is a visceral thrill: Zipping through a gap between buildings or swooping among trees along a coastline not only makes for great footage but turbocharges your heart rate, too. And thanks to more reliable GPS coverage, advancements in camera tech, and drone makers’ focus on anti-collision sensors and software, it’s easier than ever for amateurs to get this kind of adrenaline high.

But with great thrills comes great responsibility. No matter your experience level, you need to take a few crucial steps before sending your camera into the sky.

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from Wirecutter: Reviews for the Real World https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/blog/fly-a-drone-safely-and-legally/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=RSS%20Feed

Choosing the Right PlayStation 5

The PlayStation 4 era, which started in 2013, is over. Big PlayStation titles will still launch on the PS4 in 2023, but the PS4 is expected to cease production by the end of the year. In 2023, new-PlayStation shoppers have a better option: the $500 PlayStation 5 and its somewhat slimmer sibling, the $400 PlayStation 5 Digital Edition.

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from Wirecutter: Reviews for the Real World https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/choosing-best-ps5-standard-vs-digital-edition/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=RSS%20Feed

The Best Precision Screwdriver

If you need to change a toy’s batteries, swap out a thermostat, or tighten your sunglasses, you need a precision screwdriver. Of all the precision screwdrivers we’ve tested, the only one that combines a wide bit selection, a comfortable handle, and excellent bit storage is the Megapro 24-in-1 Multi-Bit Precision Screwdriver.

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from Wirecutter: Reviews for the Real World https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-precision-screwdriver/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=RSS%20Feed

The Best Needle-Nose Pliers

They may be a staple tool included in any electrician’s toolbox, but needle-nose pliers are also a crucial tool for any situation that requires something slightly longer, slimer, or stronger than your fingers. After enlisting three veteran carpenters to test 16 different pairs of the pointy pliers, we found that the Klein J203-8 Heavy Duty Journeyman Pliers are the best.

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from Wirecutter: Reviews for the Real World https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-needle-nose-pliers/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=RSS%20Feed