In-depth guides, expert tips, and buying advice to help you make the best purchasing decisions
The best toasters of 2026: the Graef TO62 is fastest with the most consistent browning, the Russell Hobbs Inspire offers more functions for less, and the Severin AT 2620 is the most consistent of all.
Matt Fankey
11 Aug 2026
The best kitchen scales of 2026: the Tefal Optiss BC50U0 takes the overall win, the Beurer KS 19 is the most accurate scale in the test, and the Soehnle Page Profi 100 is the best equipped.
Matt Fankey
10 Aug 2026
The best frying pans of 2026: the Henssler pan heats fastest and resists scratches, the AMT Gastroguss takes a removable handle into the oven, and the Tefal Day by Day is the lightweight.
Matt Fankey
10 Aug 2026
The best bread makers of 2026: the Rommelsbacher BA 550 baked the reference loaf of the test, and the Tefal PF240E38 is the easiest to live with.
Matt Fankey
10 Aug 2026
The best juicers of 2026: the Braun J500 is the tidiest worker with the biggest jug, the Severin ES 3570 is the value pick, and the Gastroback Vital Juicer Pro squeezes the most orange juice.
Matt Fankey
9 Aug 2026
The best electric blankets of 2026: the Beurer HD 82 Helsinki gives the most even warmth on test, with the cordless Stoov Big Hug XL for a desk and the cotton Medisana OL 800.
Matt Fankey
9 Aug 2026
Milk foam is best at about 65 degrees, and from 70 the milk begins to denature — which is why the hottest machine is not the best one. How to use a frother, how much each makes per pass, and four picks from a 37-model tested field.
Matt Fankey
8 Aug 2026
How a laser printer actually works, why LED printers are quietly taking over, what GDI means for anyone not on Windows, and the one reason to avoid a cheap inkjet entirely. Three picks from a 24-printer tested field.
John Higgins
8 Aug 2026
Two versions of the winning iron look almost identical and differ by 30 g/min of steam. How steam output, pressure and soleplate temperature actually interact, why low heat means no steam, how to clean an iron properly, and four picks from a 41-iron field.
Matt Fankey
8 Aug 2026
Most knife blocks that advertise sharpening only hone — they realign an edge and remove no material, so they cannot rescue a chipped blade. Only one block in a 35-model field genuinely grinds. How to hone, how to clean a block, and the three worth buying in the UK.
Matt Fankey
8 Aug 2026
A television with no Bluetooth and a hi-fi gathering dust are both fixable with a small adapter. Transmitter versus receiver explained, the latency codec that keeps TV sound in sync, what Auracast changes, and three picks from a 16-adapter tested field.
John Higgins
7 Aug 2026
Most laminating failures come from using the wrong pouch for the process, or heating something that should never be heated. Hot versus cold explained, why branded pouches should not be necessary, and four machines from a 23-model tested field.
Matt Fankey
7 Aug 2026
No lock here survives an angle grinder — the strongest folding lock tested lasted about 44 seconds. So the question is how much time, noise and effort a thief must spend. Destructive testing with a rucksack-sized bolt cutter, and the locks that held out longest.
John Higgins
7 Aug 2026
Carbon monoxide mixes with room air, so there is no universal rise-or-sink mounting rule — follow the instructions supplied with the specific alarm. What the EN 50291 alarm thresholds require, why sensors expire, and five alarms from a 19-model field.
Matt Fankey
7 Aug 2026
A nursery is dark exactly when you want to look at it, which is why video baby monitors were long more gadget than instrument. From a tested field of 31: why range matters more than resolution, what the radiation limits actually are, and the range-control setting worth switching off.
Matt Fankey
6 Aug 2026
Watt figures tell you almost nothing about how loud a party speaker goes — the number and size of the woofers do. From a tested field of 21 party boxes: the honest downside of party tuning, why bass ports let water in, and the heaviest model that is not mobile at all.
Matt Fankey
6 Aug 2026
The amplifier channel count caps what your home cinema can ever do, so count it before anything else. From a tested field of 48 receivers: the standout, the slimline option, the entry point — and the HDMI 2.1 silicon fault that no firmware update can fix.
John Higgins
6 Aug 2026
Choosing a smart speaker means choosing an assistant, an account and an app — not a set of drivers. From a tested field of 57 speakers and displays: the standout, the one that runs both assistants, and the two availability traps that catch UK buyers.
Matt Fankey
5 Aug 2026
You probably do not need a handheld vacuum, and the tested field says so plainly. If you want one anyway, two decisions matter: whose battery platform you are buying into, and accepting that every handheld is loud.
Matt Fankey
5 Aug 2026
Most gaming chair marketing is irrelevant to whether you are still comfortable four hours in. A tested field narrows it to fit and posture: seat measurements, a genuine 90-degree position, and whether the mechanism suits work as well as play.
Matt Fankey
5 Aug 2026
A car GPS tracker is bought for one moment. Four decisions determine whether it works then: subscription or one-off, battery or hardwired, 2G or 4G, and which alarms it can raise.
Matt Fankey
4 Aug 2026
A mini fridge only works if its cooling system matches what you put in it. A tested group of four settles when a silent thermoelectric model is fine, when only a compressor will do, and what these things really cost to run.
Matt Fankey
4 Aug 2026
The Series 11 won the entire tested smartwatch field, not just Apple's corner of it. What the sensors, the 2,000-nit display and the 20-hour battery actually mean day to day, where the Ultra 2 earns its extremes, and why the band matters more than the case.
Matt Fankey
2 Aug 2026
Ordinary Bluetooth is often the wrong tool for television. Why dedicated 2.4 GHz systems exist, what latency-free actually means when sound accompanies a picture, and five systems from a 22-model tested field — including the one that scales to a roomful of listeners.
Matt Fankey
1 Aug 2026