For me, it’s an electric toothbrush. It doesn’t matter if you go with Sonicare or Oral-B, once you start using an electric toothbrush, regular toothbrushes don’t ever feel like they clean your teeth properly. The smooth plaque-free top layer of your teeth that you can feel after using an electric toothbrush can’t be replicated with a regular toothbrush.
Countertop ice machine. I keep mine on a table right next to my bed for infinite cold drinks whenever I want without getting out of bed.
A usb c mini dock. Those that fit in your hand and are pretty much an entire docking station (multiple ports, hdmi, Ethernet) minus the power supply. So many devices come with only 1-2 ports.
Just mentioned this in another thread, but the XTEInk X4 is one of the most focused and portable e-readers I’ve come across. Less than $100 and isn’t locked down so you can load custom firmware on it. For anyone like me who finds most e-readers go unused because they don’t go with you, I’ve yet to find a better option.
I was gonna say my jailbroken kindle. But that affordable mini e-reader has definitely caught my eye.
With I knew this before buying a new nook
Vitamix.
I just install HomeAssistant. Seems like a good choice.
Digital bath thermometer. I love my baths and I can get to my exact desired temperature of 43.5 degrees c every time. Great 5 quid purchase.
A dedicated portable audio player with support for high-res files (that’s NOT running Android).
You can’t just doom scroll all day, no one can call you, you won’t get any spam texts or emails on it. It’s just you and your music.
Any recs?
Mechen! Love it plus it’s pretty
You probably want to pick something supported by the Rockbox firmware, in case the native firmware is so-so.
I’ve bought a Hiby R3 Pro II a while back and it’s amazing. The build quality is top notch, the battery lasts for 20+ hours and it has basically everything one could need; USB-C, Bluetooth with Apt-X and LDAC, a good screen and a balanced output with plenty of power.
Even rudimentary support for Tidal and Qobuz. The only downside is that there’s no storage built-in, but you can use microSD cards up to 2TB.
I regret giving away my iPod Touch to my sister. I wish I still had it so I can take it on walks without all the notifications from my phone
If you can find anything which can play standard 16/48 FLAC files then that is all you need. https://people.xiph.org/~xiphmont/demo/neil-young.html
I think OP’s point in asking this was so that people could buy the things that other people thought were useful.
No one knows what this is, other than some “generic ice cube tray”.
Like five wireless chargers scattered through your home wherever it is you usually just drop and forget your phone
Also, a little frame-controller for your phone, you can play warframe on that thang
Instant read digital thermometer.
Game changing.
No more over-cooked meats and ending up with tough chicken and rubbery fish. No guesswork if something has reached safe internal temperature. A must have in the kitchen.
Water pick - if I keep it in stride wit OP’s post.
Thermal printer. I play a lot of tabletop rpgs and wargames and it helps having the ability to print out handouts without worrying about how much ink I have left!
Electric brew kettle for homebrewing. It’s soooooo much better than using the standard kettle on the cooktop. Don’t have to monitor the temp manually and watch the clock, just turn it on, set the temp and timer and it does its thing.
Also can be used to sous vide an entire 10kg ham
carbiners and keyrings. they are hella useful although while you don’t need to get climbing grade you don’t want the cheapest level of consumer crap. The spot bot is great if its still the same setup. basically it just automatically rotates a scrubbrush with soapy water and sucks it back up. It basically cleans a spot like you got on your hands and knees with a bucket and scrubbrush to clean it. Very small area but thoroughly cleaned. crappy unbrella hats. its nice to keep the rain off while being able to use both hands. folding kitchen step stool. the larger kind with two levels, a magna cart, thumb drives, steamdeck, man likely lots of other things.
I disagree on the toothbrush. The problem is all the e waste. Everything else being equal I would love it and my wife won’t give it up but basically the manufacturers change and you can’t get heads that will work and you end up having to buy a new brush every few years which is almost worse with rechargeables.
I have been using Quip toothbrushes for quite a few years now and they seem to be going pretty strong. Every quarter they send me a new brush head and battery and your toothbrush is covered under wareanty as long as you have you subscription. I have rwally liked it and there doesn’t seem to be much risk of their support ending.
A subscription for a toothbrush?
it disturbs me they send you a new batter every quarter. Do you send back the old batter? If so do they say what they do with it?
Wife and I have had our Sonicare toothbrushes for something like 15 years and never had trouble finding replacement heads. In the event Phillips stops making them I’m certain 3rd parties will still make them.
You should take a look at Suri. I had the same annoyance and objection fo oral b and philips and their lazy lack of any form of effort to improve or innovate or be environmentally responsible. Been very happy with a suri for a couple years now, I send heads back for recycling and the battery lasts months at a time. https://www.trysuri.com/
But you could just go with Phillips? They have been using the same heads for a long time I believe. I buy mine from Costco in bulk.
Im not sure who I started with but initially there was no rechargeables and then like the first rechargeable I got had to be replaced because we could not get heads. I gave up at that point. I just don’t trust them to keep the things going. A few years is not enough for me its gotta last minimum a decade and preferably a few.
