All the Gear, Gadgets, and Goods We Loved This Month

This $200 backpack combines the best features from every single kind of bag. It’s supportive like a camping pack, soft and frameless like a duffel, and you can splay it open like a suitcase. It has a water-proof outer panel, an added rain cover, and comes in beautiful, bright colors. We're not saying it's metaphysical perfection. But it's pretty damn close. Read the full review here.

Does the HomePod sound good? Absolutely. Apple's first smart speaker is a marvel of audio engineering, and it sounds better than most of the other smart speakers you can buy for $350 or less. But while the audio quality is spectacular, the smart features—Siri voice control, internet audio streaming, interactions with your other devices—fall short. It really only makes sense for people whose homes are well-steeped in Apple goods and services. If that’s you, you'll absolutely love it. Everyone else, take a second look. Read the full review.

Artificial intelligence? In a toothbrush? Yeah, that's right. Colgate's new electronic brush aims to get you brushing more and brushing better by pairing with a mobile app. The app points out flaws in your technique while ensuring you brush long enough on the whole. If that's not enough of a sell, consider the price: At $99, it’s one of the most affordable electronic toothbrushes on the market. Read the full review.

If you find yourself gazing at the time from 9-5, you might as well invest in a clock that’s pretty to look at. Every 30 seconds, the time slowly materializes on the Etch’s thermoelastic membrane as the clock’s smooth, stretchy skin is pulled into the crevices needed to form the correct digits. The result looks like the numbers are carved into stone. Time may be priceless, but to tell it, this prestigious clock will cost you $1,950. Read the full story.

Nintendo’s latest set of Switch peripherals, called Labo, bring old-fashioned playtime back to gaming. Think of these like the old-school Power Pad, Mario Kart wheel for Wii, or Duck Hunt gun for NES—just with some assembly required. Each Labo kit comes with pieces of cardboard that can be assembled into objects festooned with the Switch’s console and controllers to create interactive games. We sent a Nintendo n00b to test it out, and take it from her—these things are * crazy fun*. Read the story here.

So you've decided to cut back on social media, but you're not quite ready to delete your Facebook account outright. Good news: There's an app to make it easier. Feedless blocks the feed from social media websites like Facebook and Twitter on Safari for iOS, leaving just the essential features, like messaging and events. The goal is to extract the good parts of social media without giving into the mindless scroll. Read the full story.

Google’s newest device may well flood the database of America’s Funniest Home Videos. It's part camera, part machine-learning AI, part Vine-in-a-box. The camera is programmed to identify only the most savory moments of what it's seeing. Point it at the kids for five minutes while they dance and play and run around, then open the app on your phone to find a half-dozen or so seven-second clips, ready to be shared with the rest of your family. Read the full review.

Forget high-tech sleep gadgets. Bury yourself under this 25-pound blanket and you’ll sleep like a baby. Inspired by a technique called deep pressure stimulation, the Gravity Blanket induces relaxation by piling on a percentage of your body weight. Of course, you could achieve a similar effect by sleeping under a heavy pile of laundry rather than forking over $250 for this blanket. But if you want something nice to unfurl on your bed, you could do worse. Read the story here.

This bag might not be the most stylin’ tote, but it proves that looks aren’t everything. It's capacious, has easy-to-use pockets, and can expand or compress as needed. It's made from water-resistant 525-dernier ballistic nylon to reduce weight, with abrasion-resistant material on the bottom. If you care more about function over fashion, it doesn’t get much better than this for $200. Read the full review.

So your kid decided to carve you a pretty picture, but this time on your car. For $20, the 3M Trizact Precision Scratch Kit is an all-in-one system that promises to remove light and medium scratches. The three step process includes sanding by hand with sandpaper, using a drill attachment to apply rubbing compound, and finally using the drill again to apply polish. It’s pretty terrifying to put sandpaper to your car, but it does the trick. This was our favorite, but we tried some other tricks in the book, too. Read those reviews here.

This mechanical keyboard goes clickety-clack with minimalist elegance. There are no frills—just 104 backlit keys set into an anodized aluminum top plate. The sturdy build means it’ll last at least until your 10th novel. With soft-­clicking, finger-­pleasing switches, the Das lets you command those Slack channels with comfort and authority. Read the full review.

AeroGardens probably aren't the machines for serious gardeners, but if you're getting into gardening or would just like a happy presence in your house to help get you through the winter, this one’s pretty great. Watch as whole plants appear from nothing but a pinky-sized plug of peat, water, and a thimbleful of nutrients. After a while, you could have a green ecosystem where your coffee table used to be, and something to garnish your salads with, too. Read the full review.