Every month or so, we like to ask our staff about their favorite stuff — whether it’s board games, smart tech, or kitchen gadgets. And the results are usually very different, very interesting, and a lot of fun.

Since Amazon is pushing a lot of deals as part of its October Prime Day event, we looked through some of our recent “favorites” articles and found deals on a lot of the devices we like. So, we thought we’d list a few in case you have read about them in the past and thought, well, that sort of sounds good, but it’s a bit pricey. (Or — that’s pretty cheap, but maybe I’ll wait until the price goes down even more…)

What follows are some of our staff’s most-liked stuff for the home, office, and travel.

For the office

Neon sign

Kylie Robison, senior AI reporter

Neon sign made to resemble Majora’s Mask.Neon sign made to resemble Majora’s Mask.Neon sign made to resemble Majora’s Mask.

A neon gaming sign in the form of Majora’s Mask from The Legend of Zelda.

My tiny Moleskine notebook keeps track of my whole life — I go through about two a year. That’s where I keep my weekly and monthly calendars, along with any source / general meeting notes. I use micron pens because they’re simply the best, and I keep them in a Kirby pencil case that I’ve even shown off in Verge videos. I just recently redid my entire home office, and part of that was lots of decor, my favorite being an LED Majora’s Mask.

An elaborate light switch

David Pierce, editor-at-large

The Elgato Stream Deck Mini is a customizable six-button keyboard with LED screens for buttons. It can be used to control a wide variety of things, including smart lights, computer automations, and microphone and video controls when on video calls or livestreaming.

I bought the Elgato Stream Deck Mini with big ideas about using it to control my computer, manage my meetings, and who knows what else. A year or so later, my Stream Deck is… a light switch. It’s the primary way I control the Philips Hue lights all over my house; I have shortcuts for turning all the lights on in the morning and off at night, and I have another one that sets everything to just the right brightness and color temperature for when I need to look good on the webcam. 

Yeah, using the Stream Deck as a lighting controller is a little like rigging a Rube Goldberg machine just to turn on the water. Just… hit the thing! But I’ve always hated how much the smart home life requires me to have, use, and fiddle with my phone. The Stream Deck just puts it all in front of me, one LED button at a time. And there’s something so satisfying about ending the workday by plunging my office into total darkness as I walk out like a victorious warrior.

Silent mechanical keyboard switches

Nathan Edwards, senior reviews editor

Close up of mechanical keyboard switches with clear tops and blue bases next to a bright orange keyboard. Close up of mechanical keyboard switches with clear tops and blue bases next to a bright orange keyboard. Close up of mechanical keyboard switches with clear tops and blue bases next to a bright orange keyboard. Close up of mechanical keyboard switches with clear tops and blue bases next to a bright orange keyboard.

A fantastic silent linear mechanical switch for Cherry MX-compatible keyboards. Islets are smooth and quiet, with a long spring that gives them a top-heavy, almost tactile force curve. They’re 3-pin switches, so they work with most hot-swap mechanical keyboards that take 3- or 5-pin switches.

These are my current favorite switches. The Kailh Deep-Sea Silent Pro Islets are nearly identical to the fantastic switches in the HHKB Studio, just much less expensive. The Islets are silent linear switches, with an extra-long spring, so the actuation force curve is strongest right at the beginning and then smooth the rest of the way, giving them an almost Topre-like tactile sensation. (Pitchforks down; I said almost.) They’re an instant upgrade for any hot-swap keyboard that takes Cherry MX-compatible switches, and I’ve been using them as my daily drivers for about a year. There’s also a tactile version, which I don’t like as much. Sorry to the Kailh Whales.

A reliable smart plug

Sean Hollister, senior editor

White plug plugged into electrical socket.White plug plugged into electrical socket.White plug plugged into electrical socket.White plug plugged into electrical socket.

This smart Wi-Fi plug not only lets you control your stuff but also helps you monitor energy usage.

The single fastest and most reliable device in my entire smart home… is whichever dumb-as-a-brick appliance I plug into this tiny box. Seriously, I’m pretty sure the Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Plug Mini is the only smart home device that’s never let me down. Whether it’s a string of Christmas lights, a garage freezer, a hot water recirculation pump, a humidifier, a bedside lamp, or a fan — all genuine examples from my home — I always know Alexa or Google or Siri or Home Assistant will flick that virtual switch in an instant and / or follow my programmed schedule.

Plus, I get some energy savings, too! My Brother printer used to draw 4W all day every day; now, I only spend 0.5–0.8W for the Smart Plug Mini it’s plugged into. I just wish TP-Link stopped making so many new versions so I could tell you which one to buy. I do know I’d have bought these energy-monitoring ones if I’d had a little more foresight.

A perfectly placed screen

Large monitorLarge monitorLarge monitorLarge monitor

A 27-inch 2K HDR (2560 x 1440) gaming monitor.

My main screen is an Asus VG27AQ. One of the biggest reasons I bought it was its small, squarish stand. That way, it can perch atop my NAS at the perfect head height with just enough room for my mini desktop and water bottle underneath. Too many modern monitors have big V-shaped stands that make them hard to prop up, I’m afraid.

Unblurring video calls

Victoria Song, senior reviewer

The Insta360 Link camera on a tableThe Insta360 Link camera on a tableThe Insta360 Link camera on a tableThe Insta360 Link camera on a table

The Link features a 0.5-inch Sony sensor mounted on a gimbal that can follow you around the room. It typically runs for $299.99, and it comes with numerous features that take advantage of the gimbal’s flexibility. Read our review.

I got the Insta360 Link webcam because I was tired of looking like a blurry potato on calls. This one is neat because it tracks your position, though sometimes it doesn’t always work the way it’s supposed to and my coworkers get to look at a close-up of my forehead. 

An old-fashioned watch stand

Antonio Di Benedetto, commerce writer

hand pointing at watch standhand pointing at watch standhand pointing at watch standhand pointing at watch stand

Elago’s charming Apple Watch stands are made of silicone and styled after vintage tech. Mount your Apple Watch charger in it, and it will resemble an old Macintosh Plus computer while charging.

This adorable Elago W3 stand for my Apple Watch looks like an original Macintosh.

Working with wireless headphones

Adi Robertson, senior reporter

A photo of Sony’s WH-1000XM4, the best noise-canceling headphones for most people, resting on a table.A photo of Sony’s WH-1000XM4, the best noise-canceling headphones for most people, resting on a table.A photo of Sony’s WH-1000XM4, the best noise-canceling headphones for most people, resting on a table.A photo of Sony’s WH-1000XM4, the best noise-canceling headphones for most people, resting on a table.

Sony’s WH-1000XM4 noise-canceling headphones still offer plenty of bang for your buck with excellent ANC, lively sound, and lengthy battery life. They’re not the company’s latest, but they remain an excellent buy. Read our review.

I spend the workday at my Vox laptop, a MacBook Pro, with a few accessories, including a pair of Sony WH-1000XM4 wireless headphones that my colleague Chris Welch reviewed.

An extension cord for awkward situations

Sarah Jeong, deputy features editor

Anker cube power strip on table in between a person with a phone and a computerAnker cube power strip on table in between a person with a phone and a computerAnker cube power strip on table in between a person with a phone and a computerAnker cube power strip on table in between a person with a phone and a computer

This all-in-one 20W power cube boasts three AC outlets, two USB-A ports, and one USB-C port.

Nobody wants to carry a power strip or an extension cord with them on their vacation. It’s probably unnecessary if you’re staying in relatively modern buildings and definitely unnecessary if you’re camping. But sometimes you want to stay in a charming historical hotel or a lovely cabin in the woods, and it’s only when you go to charge your devices at night that you realize that the only electrical socket in the bedroom is in the corner farthest away from the bed and there’s already two lamps plugged into it. 

Older buildings especially suffer from what I can only describe as loose socket syndrome, where those very convenient modern boxy socket extenders with five different USB and USB-C charging ports simply cannot stay in place and fall right out of the wall because they’re too heavy. After one (totally pleasant) vacation where I had to charge my phone, watch, AirPods, and laptop in a weird corner of my room with the plug-in charging hub propped up on a strategically balanced mountain of books and sham pillows, I bought this Anker combination extension cord / power strip. It’s not a full power strip — just a cube with a few sockets along with USB and USB-C charging ports at the end of a five-foot cable. I’ve brought it on a few trips since then. It takes up extra space in my suitcase but each time has left me feeling vindicated about the purchase. 

The three prongs at the end of the cable are static, rather than folding flat for easy packing. This is key because the loose sockets of older buildings reject the beautiful convenience of folding prongs. There are more than enough sockets for one person, and with some finagling (and maybe an extra charging brick), it can accommodate two people’s devices.

If you’re traveling overseas, don’t forget to purchase a different plug type for the region you’re going to or pack an adapter. 

Sony LinkBuds

Andrew Liszewski, senior reporter

Sony’s LinkBuds have a standout design that’s rooted in comfort and an airy, open sound. They also excel when used for voice calls, outshining pretty much all competitors. Read our review.

They’re not the wireless earbuds I reach for all the time, but when I’m relaxing on a bike ride at the end of the day, the open design of Sony’s LinkBuds helps keep me aware of my surroundings — whether it’s approaching vehicles or other cyclists who are in more of a hurry. Even with some compromises to sound quality, the LinkBuds still sound very good, and because they sit in my ears, they’re easier to wear with a helmet. My favorite feature is the ability to tap on the side of my head to control playback or adjust the volume while riding. The earbuds detect the nearby vibrations as inputs so I don’t have to precisely target buttons or touchpads.

For the home

North Star Games – Evolution: Oceans

Jennifer Pattison Tuohy, reviewer

The board and cards for Evolution: Oceans.The board and cards for Evolution: Oceans.The board and cards for Evolution: Oceans.The board and cards for Evolution: Oceans.

A strategy board game in which you enter the mysterious world of the Earth’s oceans.

Finding a board game that will entertain a 13-year-old girl, a 16-year-old boy, my partner, and me is a challenge. We’ve cycled through all the classics as well as newer options — Carcassonne, Ticket to Ride, Catan, and more. While these are all great, inevitably one of the group develops a passionate dislike for the game (usually after a few too many losses) and it drops off our rotation. However, Evolution: Oceans has been a constant crowd-pleaser for over six months now, and we all love it. 

Part of the Evolution series from NorthStar Game Studio, Oceans is a beautiful, complicated, compelling, and challenging strategy game. You create new species to fill your ocean and fight to develop them and keep them alive using adaptations and abilities such as schooling and speed, tentacles, and parasitic abilities. 

Cards give you your powers, and these are gorgeously illustrated, making this game a visual feast. It does have a fairly steep learning curve, but once you get going and the strategies unfold, the gameplay is smooth and relatively fast-paced. There is a fair amount of player-to-player interaction, so we’ve had a couple of temper tantrums, but nothing big enough to knock this one off our family’s top spot… at least not yet.

Metering your moisture

Victoria Song, senior reviewer

Green moisture meter stuck in the soil of a potted plant.Green moisture meter stuck in the soil of a potted plant.Green moisture meter stuck in the soil of a potted plant.Green moisture meter stuck in the soil of a potted plant.

Quickly tests the soil moisture for indoor and outdoor plants.

Fungus gnats love overwatered soil, so once you’ve gotten rid of them, you’ve got to be careful and diligent about your watering schedule. For that, I got myself a Gouevn soil moisture meter to teach myself how to properly water my plants. I’ve properly vanquished my fungus gnat issue, but with these two tools, I’m always prepared in case there’s ever another infestation.

A smart garage opener

Wes Davis, weekend editor

White device labeled Meross with black and red wires coming outWhite device labeled Meross with black and red wires coming outWhite device labeled Meross with black and red wires coming outWhite device labeled Meross with black and red wires coming out

Meross makes a handy add-on that can transform a variety of garage door models into smart doors that you can open remotely. It works with Amazon Alexa, Apple Home, Google Home, and Samsung SmartThings.

Most of the things I own are, frankly, just unreliable enough to be annoying. All except for one or two, and of those, the one I love most of all is the Meross Smart Wi-Fi Garage Door Opener for HomeKit. And my love for it isn’t just about its rock-solid performance — it’s because, as far as I can tell, it’s compatible with almost any garage door opener on the market and across time itself. I don’t think that’s an exaggeration, either. The chunky mustard yellow all-metal box that cranks my garage door open — the Model 455 by Automatic Doorman — was made, by my loose estimation, sometime between the fall of Rome and 1975. 

But Meross’ adapter was $30 — and to my amazement, after a very simple installation, it worked and continues to do so almost every time I need it to. Best of all, I don’t have to carry the chunky remote with me on my bike when I leave because I can just talk into my Apple Watch when I return and coast right in.

A cost-effective doorbell cam

Christopher Grant, group publisher, The Verge and Polygon

Easily installed video doorbell with a 180-degree view.

I was already out of love with my 2018 Nest Doorbell when Google raised the price of the video cloud storage subscription last year. That subscription, which was already unpalatable at $50 a year — it only captured “events” and not full 24/7 video and, even then, only stored those events for 30 days — was going to increase by a whopping 60 percent. Raising prices this high without anything to show for it except a clumsy explanation of “inflation and tax increases,” despite the well-understood maxim that storage costs go down over time, was just the push I needed, so after spending some time on the Home Assistant forums, I settled on the Reolink Video Doorbell PoE camera. 

On sale for less than the cost of a single year of Google’s new subscription, the Reolink impresses with much better video quality and PoE support, so there are no batteries or Wi-Fi issues to worry about (though a Wi-Fi version is available if that works better for you), as well as support for local storage via an SD card (imagine!) or network support via the ONVIF standard. It integrates directly into Home Assistant, no Reolink account necessary, and is generally just a much better product. I wish I made the switch years ago.

Reminders and weather reports

Barbara Krasnoff, reviews editor

Amazon’s new Echo Show 8 features spatial audio and room adaptation software for improved audio quality. It also displays a different homescreen on its eight-inch display based on whether you’re standing near it or farther away. Read our review.

When I realized that my mother’s memory was starting to get a little wonky and that she would need reminding about appointments, medication, and other things, the answer turned out to be Amazon’s Echo Show 8. I bought her one for the living room, and not only did it remind her to take her pills, but she could listen to music, see photos, and maybe even do an occasional face-to-face call. 

However, I soon realized that wasn’t enough. I needed to know that she could contact me in an emergency no matter where she was in her apartment. I got her an Amazon Echo Dot with Clock (which is now, unfortunately, defunct). My mother loved it — she could not only see what time it was but also ask what the weather was or play a favorite song, right from her bedroom. And I was happy because, between the Dot and the Show, she could yell “Call Barbara” anywhere in the apartment — including the bathroom — and it would hear her. It was a win-win.

A snap-on phone stand / wallet

Allison Johnson, reviewer

Two phones, one horizontal and one vertical, being propped up by folded cases.Two phones, one horizontal and one vertical, being propped up by folded cases.Two phones, one horizontal and one vertical, being propped up by folded cases.Two phones, one horizontal and one vertical, being propped up by folded cases.

Moft’s phone stand and wallet sticks to the back of your phone, either by MagSafe or adhesive, and fits three of your most precious ID or payment cards.

I’m at the phone stand. I’m at the wallet. I’m at the combination phone stand and wallet. 

An accessory that does two jobs instead of one is the best kind of phone accessory in my book, like Moft’s phone stand and wallet. It sticks to the back of your phone, either by MagSafe or adhesive, and fits three of your most precious ID or payment cards. It’s pretty low-profile when it’s closed, but you unfold it origami-style when you need a card or want to use it as a stand. Magnets inside keep it open or closed, and it’s sturdy enough to prop your phone up either horizontally or vertically. 

You can also open it partway and put your hand through the loop to use it as a phone grip. That’s like, two and a half jobs out of one accessory, plus it looks nice. Not a bad deal.

Multipurpose rice cooker

Victoria Song, senior reviewer

rice cooker with bowls of ricerice cooker with bowls of ricerice cooker with bowls of ricerice cooker with bowls of rice

A 5.5-cup-capacity rice cooker and warmer that not only cooks rice but also comes with a steaming basket to double as a steamer and a cake menu setting to bake cakes.

A lot of people will tell you that rice cookers are single-use appliances meant only for rice — they’re wrong. A rice cooker is best at cooking rice, but it can do a lot of the same things as an Instant Pot. For instance, you can use it to cook hardboiled eggs or oatmeal, steam vegetables, make porridge, make one-pot meals, and even bake a cake. 

I grew up with giant 10-cup rice cookers at home, but I didn’t appreciate how versatile this appliance was until I left the country for college. A tiny two-cup rice cooker kept me fed in my cramped 250-square-foot Tokyo apartment. It was programmable, so I could wash my rice, stick it in the cooker, and know that when I woke up late for class, I could still whip up some ochazuke or oatmeal for a quick, cheap, and nutritious breakfast. (It also took the hassle out of steel-cut oats.) Whenever I had a craving for sweets, it was so easy to take pancake mix and bake a Japanese-style cheesecake for one.

I’ve since graduated to a 5.5-cup Zojirushi Micom Rice Cooker, and it’s one of the handiest tools I have for meal prepping. When I was sick I made ample use of its porridge setting to make a congee-type dish with chicken and ginger — just like my mom used to make when I was a kid. The fact that it’ll keep something warm for days meant I could crawl out of bed, scoop out some porridge, and crawl back into bed with minimal effort. When I’m feeling lazy, I throw eggs in there, and bam — some extra hard-boiled protein. Mine also comes with a little basket, so it’s super easy to throw in veggies or steam frozen dumplings.

But what I like most is that rice cookers are more space-efficient than Instant Pots. In my kitchen, the one spot where I could fit an Instant Pot is instead occupied by a rice cooker, blender, and spoon rest. A multitasking kitchen gadget that doesn’t take over your entire counter? That’s a must if you live in a small space.

Garlic rocker

Barbara Krasnoff, reviews editor

Garlic rocker / mincer / crusherGarlic rocker / mincer / crusherGarlic rocker / mincer / crusherGarlic rocker / mincer / crusher

The Joseph Joseph Garlic Rocker is just a simple curved piece of metal with holes in it, but it’s one of the easiest and most effective ways to mince / crush garlic.

We use a lot of garlic in my household, and traditional garlic presses never did it for us — they usually produced a messy, slushy paste. A friend of ours introduced us to the garlic rocker, which is not only fun to play with but produces beautifully minced pieces of garlic, perfect for sautéing and other uses. And it looks like a strange work of art, which means we can keep it on the counter just for show.

For travel

Universal travel adaptor 

Victoria Song, senior reviewer

Travel adaptor on power strip connected to phones and laptop.Travel adaptor on power strip connected to phones and laptop.Travel adaptor on power strip connected to phones and laptop.Travel adaptor on power strip connected to phones and laptop.

Epicka’s universal travel adapter is an all-in-one adapter that includes four different plugs that cover over 150 countries.

In my youth, I forgot to pack plug adaptors for international trips one too many times. Buying them once you’ve landed in another country isn’t always easy, either. And if you’re like me, your relatives in rural Korea don’t always have more than one plug for your American devices — in which case, you’ll have to share with your six other cousins. Nope. Absolutely not. Which is why I never leave this country without a universal travel adaptor.

Basically, it’s six plug adaptors in one. Depending on which one you get, it might come with USB ports so you can charge multiple devices in one outlet. Granted, it’s bulkier than buying one or two specialized adaptor plugs, but if you’ve got a multi-continent itinerary, it’s a game changer. What I like about this one from Epicka is that it comes with a spare fuse in case things go sideways with voltage.

The only caveat is that, although it says “universal,” it’s technically only the four most common types of plugs. That’ll get you by in most countries, but it’s not a guarantee in places like Brazil, South Africa, or India. Even so, I’ll take this over price gouging at airport electronics shops or having to take time out of my schedule to visit a local hardware store.

Updated October 8th: Adjusted pricing and added several new deals, including the Insta360 Link, Asus VG27AQ, and more.

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