About once a month or so, we here at The Verge like to write about our favorite stuff: pet gear, backpacks, and weird toys, among others. Now that the Black Friday sales are all popping up, we’ve checked out some of the items that we’ve written about in the past — things that we have bought for ourselves and that we really like — to see which are on sale.
So far, we’ve found a lot of low-cost gadgets that are available for under $50, along with some fashionable and very useful bags. Take a look.
Useful Tech
For years, I’ve been procrastinating getting a proper phone holder for my car so I can easily glance at GPS directions. I finally got fed up with having an Android Auto-less car enough to finally purchase a wireless phone charger and holder from Amazon. Sure, it’s not a name-brand device, but I was able to easily mount it on my dashboard with the suction cup, and it’s stayed in place since. It also has a neat auto-clamping feature that ensures your phone stays snug inside the holder, and it provides a way better charge than the measly USB cable I had plugged into my car before. — Emma Roth, news writer
I travel abroad a lot, so a reliable charging brick that I can use both at home and while traveling in Europe and the UK (which are all different plugs) is an essential item for me. Minix’s compact 66W 3-Port GaN wall charger is my favorite one — it’s small but mighty. It features two USB-C fast-charging ports and one USB-A port, so I can charge my laptop, phone, and other devices simultaneously in my hotel room (I’m still waiting for hotels to figure out that USB-C is a thing now). But the best part is that it comes with a European and UK wall plug adaptor that I can easily snap on depending on which country I’m in. — Jennifer Pattison Tuohy, senior reviewer
I have a tendency to hold on to my phones as long as they work reasonably well, but even the best devices will eventually start to lose battery life — and after over three years of use, it’s not unexpected that my Pixel 6 will sometimes hit the 20 percent mark toward the end of the day. So I recently realized that I’m going to have to start carrying around a portable charger. Eventually, I settled on the not-so-powerful but lightweight Anker Nano Power Bank, which plugs into my phone’s USB-C slot like a small add-on peripheral. The Nano weighs only 3.5 ounces and supplies 5,000mAh of battery power — enough to keep me going to the end of the day. And it comes in several pale colors (I chose Ice Lake Blue), which means I can see it more easily in the dark reaches of my bag. — Barbara Krasnoff, reviews editor
My ToAuto soldering station spent a few years gathering dust, but I finally pulled it out of the closet when I started experimenting with game console repairs. It may not be a Hakko or a Weller, but it gets the job done. The station is perfect for a beginner like me, as it heats up to 842 degrees Fahrenheit, comes with numerous interchangeable soldering tips, has steel wool for cleaning, and features a handy rack to hold a spool of solder. So far, it’s helped me do things like solder an HDMI port onto a PlayStation 4 and install new batteries on old Game Boy games. I expect it’s going to come in handy for many future repairs, too. — Emma Roth, news writer
My partner and I were coming back from dinner with a friend the other night, and as the bus roared away, he suddenly realized his wallet was no longer in his back pocket. We called the MTA the next day, and were able to drive over to the local bus depot and pick it up — and the next day, I ordered a Tile Slim for him. I’ve actually been using Tile trackers for my own keys and wallet for a couple of years now, and so as nice as the folks at the MTA were, hopefully, my partner’s new Tile Slim will ensure it’s our last visit there. — Barbara Krasnoff, reviews editor
I can’t help but laugh every time I hear “Royal Kludge,” but this is truly the best folding Bluetooth keyboard I’ve used yet — because it’s the only multi-device keyboard I’ve tried that doesn’t fall off my lap! It’s also a mechanical keyboard with swappable keycaps, but that’s just the cherry on top. For me, the important bits are that it’s easy to type on, I can swap between multiple Bluetooth devices instead of re-pairing, I can plug it in with USB-C whenever Bluetooth won’t work, and it spans both my legs while folding vertically rather than horizontally, so it doesn’t just fall into the gap between my legs like so of many rivals do. There really aren’t a lot of multi-device wired/wireless hybrid keyboards out there with USB-C ports. This one’s chunkier than the competition, but it’s a great deal. — Sean Hollister, senior editor
I picked up Hoto’s electric screwdriver because my former boss at The Verge, Dan Seifert, would often pitch it around gift guide season. I’m glad I did, though, because it now sits alongside a handful of tools I use on an almost weekly basis. I wouldn’t suggest using it for real household projects that require some serious torque, but it’s incredibly handy for tightening the legs on my desk, assembling furniture, and making sure my bike seat isn’t going to come off mid-ride. It’s also equipped with a USB-C port for charging, a nifty LED light that lets you ditch the headlamp, and a case for housing the 25 steel bits. Oh, and it really does make for a great little gift. I guess Dan was right. — Brandon Widder, senior commerce editor
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