I love a list. I can happily write the same to-do list in six different places in a single day (good thing I test digital notebooks and paper planners). I often find myself rewriting the little brainstorms in my Notes app because the ideas are still banging around in my brain, asking to be let…
If you’re spending hundreds or thousands of dollars buying an OTC hearing aid, make sure you’re getting a product that offers a sustainable long-term solution to your hearing loss needs. Aside from the obvious things like sound quality, take a few minutes to look into these specs. What size and style works best for you?…
Main theme: Getting everything on the table this Thanksgiving doesn’t have to leave you (or your budget) cooked. In this podcast episode, Talking Carts hosts Tanya Christian, a senior home and appliances writer at CR, and Brian Vines, CR’s marketplace equity reporter, share the recipe for stress-free holiday hosting. Social media’s king of the kitchen, Davon…
The expansion has been driven by specific legal and bureaucratic levers. Foremost was an April 2020 Justice Department rule that revoked a long-standing waiver allowing DHS to skip DNA collection from immigration detainees, effectively green-lighting mass sampling. Later that summer, the FBI signed off on rules that let police booking stations run arrestee cheek swabs…
There are no hard-and-fast rules about how much you should tip at the holidays, but some tipping norms have become a social convention. For example, giving your barber a holiday bonus equal to the cost of one haircut has become a customary way to show thanks for year-round service. (See “Your Giving Guide,” below, for…
Our newly expanded testing primarily reflects shower coverage, shower force, water consumption, and ease of use. For shower coverage, we assess how uniform the spray pattern is for each showerhead. To evaluate shower force, we use a force gauge underneath the shower and compare that measurement with an ideal, most comfortable value. A shower can…
For years, Laura Loomer’s position on Ukraine was crystal clear. It was “a country full of Nazi apologists” led by “a Jihadi apologist.” Loomer, a conspiracy theorist and avid Trump supporter, called American politicians who supported Ukraine in its war against Russia “traitors.” But Loomer, who traveled to Ukraine last week, has changed her tune….
Add all of that up and it’s no surprise that consumer satisfaction with inkjet printers, as measured in those same surveys, is quite low. That’s why we find that, for typical home use, the best option is generally a black-and-white laser. Our research shows that people rarely print graphics and almost never print photos, but…
The CPSC has flagged safety issues with loungers for years. The Boppy infant lounger was recalled in 2021, several lesser-known loungers sold by Amazon and Walmart were all recalled in 2024, and four more baby loungers have been recalled so far in 2025. In 2024, the CPSC passed a new rule to try to make…
With electricity costs soaring, home batteries have never looked so attractive. Whether you want to store the excess generated by your solar panels or simply buy electricity at the cheapest possible rate to use later when power is most expensive, a home battery can help. It’s never been easier to get a home battery installed,…