Karlston Posted May 3, 2020 Share Posted May 3, 2020 Our 13 Favorite Gadgets and Gizmos for Under $20 Do you need a small way to improve your life? These are the affordable pick-me-ups we can't live without. One of my favorite parts about working in the Gadget Lab is how gearheads have strong opinions on ... pretty much everything. We're just as likely to hash out our favorite kinds of tape as we are to discuss ebikes, mechanical keyboards, or Android phones. But not everything we love costs hundreds of dollars. I've pulled together some of our favorite cheap gizmos and gadgets that make our lives better every day. Check out our buying guides for more of our recommendations. For example, if you need to improve your work-from-home setup, we can help. We can also teach you how to disinfect like a pro. If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. Learn more. Photograph: Black Diamond A Versatile Clip Black Diamond Locking Carabiner Yes, I was an emo kid who clipped her keys to her pants. But long afterward, I recognized the usefulness of this light, indestructible piece of rock climbing gear. For a mom of two with a dog, carrying a carabiner is like having an extra pair of hands. I keep one wound with a piece of webbing on the handlebar of my kid’s wagon. I can use it to clip my dog’s leash to my pants or strap a stray scooter to the back of a stroller. I keep one on my backpack to carry wet kid shoes. And if any of us ever go into a bar or on a plane ever again, they’re also useful for hanging coats and bags on hooks or the backs of seat pockets. —Adrienne So $15 at REI Photograph: Invisibobble Keep Your Hair Up Invisibobble Gone are the days when a hair tie would snap just as I was trying to fix a bun, leaving me to MacGyver something together in a public bathroom. I refer to that dark time as Before Invisibobble. After Invisibobble, the sun shines, the birds sing, and my hair loves me. I was initially scared to put this telephone-cord-looking object into my curls, as I was sure it was a knotty disaster waiting to happen, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that it holds my hair without any pulling or tangling, and it leaves me with zero hair ache after a long day. Plus, they’re almost immune to breaking. —Medea Giordano $9 at Target Photograph: Aukey Experiment With Your Phone Aukey Ora iPhone Lens For folks who love to read the cereal box at breakfast or the back of the shampoo bottle while doing your business, this Aukey camera bundle is a great way to pass the time indoors. Snap the 10X macro lens to the back of your phone (make sure it lines up with your main camera), and you’ll be able to get extra close to … well, just about anything. I love using it to snap super-close-up photos of plants in my home and my dog’s colorful eyes (when he stops licking the camera). There’s also an ultrawide lens to take in sweeping scenes, which you can save for when we all go outside again. —Julian Chokkattu $20 at Amazon Photograph: Atlas Coffee Club Cycle Out Your Beans Atlas Coffee Club Coffee of the Month Looking for fresh beans? Atlas Coffee Club is a subscription service (under $20 a month) that sends you one 12-ounce bag every month, and each comes from one of the more than 50 countries in the company’s curated collection. Also included are pretty postcards from the coffee’s country of origin, the flavor notes of the beans, and brewing tips in case you need them. I need a cup of joe every morning before I get to my home workstation, and Atlas has been keeping me awake for more than a year. —Julian Chokkattu $14 at Atlas Coffee Photograph: Vistaprint Personalize Your Months Vistaprint Wall Calendar My partner and I have been printing our own calendars for the past three years with Vistaprint. Last year’s calendar was filled with photos from our trip to Japan, but the year before and 2020 have nothing but snaps of our dog to cheer us up month-to-month. You can get calendars in various sizes (I recommend the large for nice, big photos). All you need to do is set aside 12 photos and assign them to a month, but make sure they’re good quality. You can even set special events to any day, like your dog's birthday. —Julian Chokkattu $18 at Vistaprint Photograph: Amazon A DIY Necessity Gaffer Tape Imma let duct tape finish, but everyone who’s ever worked at a music venue, play, or any other production environment knows that gaffer’s tape is the true king of the tapes. This is the stuff your favorite band uses to fix a broken mix stand, tape their cables to the floor, and reattach their front bumper. It’s fabric-y and easy to tear, adheres super well to most surfaces, and comes off with minimal residue (looking at you, duct tape). It’s also incredibly easy to write on if you get it in a color other than black. Trust me: Get yourself a roll, and ascend to DIY heaven. —Parker Hall $17 at Amazon Photograph: Dop Stick Your Phone Everywhere Dop Mount I’ve had a long love affair with PopSockets, the grips you attach to the back of your phone. But the $17 Dop mount made it much more intense. Dop is a repositionable suction phone mount (compatible with PopSocket grips) that can stick to almost any flat surface. Place it on your bathroom mirror when following along with a beauty tutorial. Pop it on your tile backsplash when cooking dinner to keep your recipe in view. Twist it and stick your phone to the wall when you’re video chatting (or filming a video). Or, if you’re like me, get extra lazy and use the Dop to hang your phone horizontally at eye level while you’re in bed watching YouTube videos. I can attest that even six hours later, it’ll still be holding strong. —Louryn Strampe $17 at Dop Photograph: Muji A Slick, Eco-Friendly Pen Muji Ballpoint Pens The Japanese brand Muji makes all sorts of dope housewares, from cute little dust brooms to gorgeous alarm clocks that would make Dieter Rams blush. But I want to steer you to Muji's stationary aisle, so you can have a look at the 0.38-millimeter gel pens. These are smooth-writing ballpoint pens that are comfortable to hold and make an attractive stroke. Muji sells a six pack for $8. I always keep a cup filled with these at my desk. Maybe the best part—at least for those of us who recoil from single-use plastics—is that Muji sells refills of the ink cartridges that screw into these pens. So buy the six, then keep the casings alive (and out of landfills) forever. —Michael Calore $8 at Muji Photograph: Amazon Your Best Friend in the Kitchen Kiwi Brand Chef's Knife If you're researching kitchen knives, you're going to end up reading a lot of websites that instruct you to spend north of $100 on a fancy blade from Japan or Germany. You can ignore those websites. Yes, a fine Global or Wüsthof is a delightful addition to any kitchen, but if you want something cheap that doesn't compromise too much on quality, get a Kiwi. I first learned about these knives years ago, when I worked at a Thai restaurant staffed with prep cooks who proudly swore by them. (They're manufactured in Thailand.) Just know that the stainless steel blade of this 8-incher is pretty thin and does not stay sharp for as long as pricier specimens. But if you can sharpen your own knives—or if you have a machine that does it for you—then you'll be able to keep it in continuous service for decades. —Michael Calore $10 at Amazon Photograph: Funko Trinkets for Your Desk Funko Pop I have to admit, I didn’t really see why people liked Funko Pops until my daughter brought one home from school (a distressingly long time ago). A classmate had given it to her, and she was so thrilled by its cuteness, its smallness, and its durability, that she carried it in her hand for days. Even if you’re not a collector or a kid, you can find a funny, obscure Funko Pop that will appeal to just about anyone—from the expected movie characters to Bob Ross. Like my daughter’s friend showed me, it’s an easy way to brighten someone’s day. —Adrienne So $15 at Funko Pop Photograph: Amazon Open Everything P-38 Can Opener - 15-Pack The P-38 can opener hails from 1942. It was designed to be a cheap, simple way for soldiers to open their field rations during World War II. In a testament to its perfection, it is still being produced today. I have several of these. One was a gift from my grandfather and lives safely (albeit somewhat uselessly) in my desk drawer. The others live in car glove boxes, camping gear bags, and on my keychain, next to the Swiss Army knife. You know how you always have to remember to pack the can opener before you go camping? I don't. Hey, remember when we could go camping? That was fun. Hopefully, we'll get back to it soon. But in the meantime, grab a P38. You won't regret it. —Scott Gilbertson $10 at Amazon Photograph: Victorinox A Must-Have for Your Keychain Swiss Army Keychain Knife I use a knife every day. I can't tell you exactly what I use it for, but trust me, I use it every day. I have several knives, but the one that's always in my pocket is the good old Swiss Army keychain knife. The knife blade is small, and you'll lose the toothpick and tweezers after a month. That's okay. The real marvels here are the mini scissors and the screwdriver tip on the nail file. Snip dangling threads, tighten screws, open boxes, this list could go on forever, but you get the idea. I pry the colored plastic sides off to make it a little slimmer. —Scott Gilbertson $16 at REI Photograph: Plunkett + Kuhr Designers Breaking News WIRED 1-Year WIRED Print + Digital Subscription I apologize for the plug, but as our reviews editor Jeffrey Van Camp points out, a print and digital subscription for a year now costs less than a pizza. A subscription funds not only the Gadget Lab's hard work testing phones and drones, but the rest of our news team. Months into a world-changing pandemic, the value of rigorous reporting and data-driven journalism has never been more clear. $5 at WIRED Source: Our 13 Favorite Gadgets and Gizmos for Under $20 (Wired) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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