8 Best Stick Vacuums of 2025, Lab-Tested and Reviewed

With the improvements in stick-vac performance, we’ve ratcheted up our tests for the category. We’ve made our pet hair tests a bit more challenging, and we now embed dirt in carpeting instead of scattering it on the surface as we used to do. For bare-floor testing, instead of combining all the debris into a messy…

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Best Wall Ovens of 2025

To put a wall oven through its paces, our experts use a combination of calibrated time and temperature measurements that size up how evenly an oven distributes heat for baking, broiling, and self-cleaning. Our test engineers bake over 400 cakes and 2,400 cookies each year, looking for the models that do the best job baking…

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How to Choose the Right Vacuum for the Job

These lightweight tools (most weigh under 10 pounds) are much more powerful than they used to be. But their cleaning prowess still can’t match an upright or canister (especially on carpet), so they’re better for targeted tasks. They’re good enough that if you live in a small space with mostly hard-surface floors, a top model…

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This Is Why You Should Try Ultralight Backpacking (2025)

I first encountered the ideas of ultralight backpacking in 1994, in an article in now-defunct (and much-missed) Backpacker magazine. It was titled “Less is More,” by Mark Jenkins. (I still have a PDF copy I scanned years ago.) Jenkins wrote about a long trip across Europe and Africa. By the end, he and his traveling…

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The Best Deals from Huckberry’s 2025 Black Friday Sale

Huckberry, purveyors of finely curated clothing and gear for the sort of person equally at home in the woods and the city, has started its holiday sale. Huckberry’s Black Friday sale covers a wide range, from the company’s own house brands to favorites from the likes of GoRuck and Peak Design. We’ve tested and love…

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Best Soundbars of 2025 in Every Price Range

Here are a few shopping suggestions to keep in mind. • Make sure you can return or exchange the soundbar even if you listen to it in a store before buying it. Soundbars may sound very different in your home. • Determine how many channels of sound you want. To simply enhance your TV sound,…

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