Smarter: What CR Experts Want for Holiday Gifts

🧽 303 Instant Windshield Washer Tablets
Each tablet is concentrated and makes 1 gallon of washer solution for your windshield, says CR car tester Alex Knizek. He has used many different windshield solutions over the years and has found these tablets work just as well as their premixed counterparts but save money and use less plastic. 

And here’s a tip for the winter: You can add isopropyl alcohol to the solution to prevent it from freezing, Alex says.

From $12.02 at Amazon and Walmart.

☕ A Double-Walled Glass Mug
“I look forward to my morning cup of coffee each day, and the vessel from which I consume from is just as important as the ritual itself,” says Anna Kocharian, CR’s shopping editor. She recently looked into the best types of coffee mugs to keep a brew warm.

Glass mugs are good at retaining the heat of your drink, and with double-walled glass, the space between the two layers serves as an insulator. Plus, many of them are really pretty to look at.

Shop double-wall glass mugs at Amazon, Bed Bath & Beyond, Target, and Walmart.

🔪 Henckels Premio 8” Chef’s Knife
“During the past few years, I’ve sharpened my cooking game—no pun intended. It’s time to get a great chef’s knife and sharpener to match my kitchen ambitions,” says Tobie Stanger, a CR home writer.

The Henckels Premio is considered the best chef’s knife in CR’s assessment. Not only is it extremely comfortable to hold but it’s also adept at every task, from deboning chicken to mincing herbs. And among the chefs’ knives we tested, it’s the one most likely to work well for a cross section of users.  

It can be paired with the Chef’s Choice Model XV 3-Stage Professional Electric Knife Sharpener, which can “sharpen pretty much any knife you’ll ever own,” according to Paul Hope, a CR home writer and former chef, who evaluated eight knife sharpeners and voted the Chef’s Choice model his favorite.

The Henckels Premio is available from $39.99 at Amazon, Target, and Zwilling. The Chef’s Choice Model 15XV from $160 at Amazon.

☀️JALL Wake Up Light Sunrise Alarm Clock
“A sunrise alarm clock would help me get up in the winter for early runs,” says CR’s shopping editor, Mary Beth Quirk, who’s been running three to four times a week for the past two years.

The JALL model was rated the highest in our evaluations of sunrise clocks because of its price and ease of use. You can check out the other models we tested here.

The JALL Wake Up Light Sunrise Alarm Clock is available from $39.98 at Amazon.

✨ Black+Decker DustBuster CHV1410L Vacuum Cleaner
“I got it for my husband a couple of years ago. It’s great for a quick cleanup of the vehicle seats,” says Emily A. Thomas, CR’s manager of auto safety, who oversees our child-seat and rear-seat safety features test programs.

The vacuum comes with a crevice tool and was particularly handy when Emily removed her children’s car seats and found a “Cheerio and Goldfish crackers crime scene under there.” You know. We’ve all been there.

You can check out CR’s ratings of the vacuum cleaner here.

From $59 at Amazon, Home Depot, and Walmart.

🍷 Nonalcoholic Beverage Bundle from The Zero Proof
“I’ve never been able to drink alcohol due to a rare and severe allergy, which meant that I didn’t get to celebrate as festively as my friends and family do with fancy cocktails in gorgeous glassware,” says Perry Santanachote, a CR writer who has years of experience as a food recipe developer and stylist.

Juices and sodas aren’t really the answer for Perry, who says right now is a good time for a nondrinker like her because there are more spirit-free options than ever.

Bundles are available from $80.99 at The Zero Proof. You can also check out bundles from Nano Bar, Better Rhodes, or The Mindful Drinking Company.

🚗 DeWalt 20V MAX* Corded/Cordless Air Inflator
“A portable tire inflator is a great convenience for topping off pressures,” says Jeff Bartlett, managing editor of CR’s cars content, who has had to deal with a dozen flat tires through the years. It’s a better option than dragging around a corded compressor or going to a gas station on underinflated tires. Plus, it can be used on bike tires and other inflatables. 

“Based on CR’s past experience, I’d go with a DeWalt 20V MAX*,” Jeff says. “It has the power and battery life to easily tackle all four tires. And the battery can be used for other tools.”

From $110 at Amazon and DeWalt.

📷 Polaroid Now+ Camera
“I had a Polaroid camera in college and ADORED it, but about a year after I graduated, it became nearly impossible to get the film, so I ditched the camera,” says CR reporter Angela Lashbrook. “Now the company is back, the film is easy to get on Amazon, and the features are much improved.” 

“My life has a ton of digital clutter, and I rarely look at my digital photos, making them nearly useless,” she says. “I want to become more intentional and focused on my photo-taking, and I know from experience that an instant camera helps facilitate that.”

From $179.99 at Amazon and Polab.

🎧 Shure AONIC 50 Headphones
“I’ve desperately needed a pair of noise-canceling headphones for a few years now. I’m extremely sensitive to sounds and easily distracted by white noise,” Angela says.

The Shure AONIC 50 wireless bluetooth headphones received high marks in CR’s headphone ratings. And in Angela’s opinion, they’re “cuter than the Bose headphones—and more budget-friendly than the Apple AirPods Max.”

From $249 at Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart.

🪑 Steelcase Series 1 Chair
“I sit in a chair basically all day unless I’m biking or jogging, so it’s super important to get a good one,” says Nicholas De Leon, a senior reporter on the electronics team at CR who has been using a gaming chair these past two years—a chair that he dislikes.

“This was before we did our report on gaming chairs. If I knew then what I know now, I would not have bought it,” Nicholas says. According to CR’s ergonomics experts, if you want a modestly priced seat that’s highly adjustable and built for all-day comfort, an office chair is a better bet than a gaming chair.

You can check out our review of the best popular office chairs (the Steelcase Series 1 is, of course, one of them) as well as all the ways you’re not sitting in your chair right.

From $474 at Amazon, Steelcase, and West Elm.

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