Best Deals Under $25

We tested the Ephesus Turkish Beach Towel for sand resistance in four different assessments—two times with dry sand while the towel was dry and two times with dry sand while the towel was wet. This towel impressed us each and every time with its superior ability to repel sand. Our scale detected either 0 ounces of sand left on the towel or 0.1 ounces—and when our testers ran their hand across the towel, they couldn’t feel or see any leftover sand. 

During the water test, two interesting things happened. The first: Its Turkish cotton material seemed desperate to repel water—droplets stayed suspended on the areas of the towel where the evaluator poured ocean water and the towel didn’t readily absorb the water. They made the second discovery after submerging the towel in a tub of water: It was the first of the eight towels we evaluated to dry completely, in about four hours.

Note that different colors are on sale for different prices.

This Turkish beach towel repelled sand well when dry and wet, and dried relatively quickly after being submerged in water. It’s not the most comfortable towel we tried, as it’s on the thinner side, but it’s lightweight and comes in three sizes and more than 30 colors (all with a striped design). Its Turkish cotton fabric meets Oeko-Tex Standard 100 Certification, which means it is certified to be free of harmful chemicals.

Prices may vary by color and size.

The Home Hero steak knives seem to work on the same principle as the jaw of a coyote. They’ll definitely separate meat from a bone, but it ain’t gonna be pretty. The knives have jagged, triangular teeth, almost like those on a handsaw. The result is a knife that can certainly cut, but it takes a bit of effort. They can easily tear up food, but they struggle to produce delicate slices. If that’s okay with you, this wallet-friendly choice might be the right one for you.

What’s nice about the Wildone Baking Sheet with Rack is that you get two pans (and two cooling racks) for the price of one. Not to mention, its performance is in line with the other uncoated sheet pans in this group. It earns an excellent score in our test for cooking evenness and durability — and very good score for speed of heating.

This air-popping popcorn maker from Dash is at a small discount right now, and it happens to be the lowest price we’ve seen. The Dash popcorn maker beat out the other models CR evaluated, making popcorn that was light, warm, and crunchy. It has a measuring cup for your kernels, which doubles as a butter melter (which isn’t the most efficient if you’re using cold butter). And it only takes about 2 minutes to pop a full serving.

If you’re looking for basic reusable food storage bags, this silicone set from Zip Top may be a good fit. The wide openings and stand-up bottoms make them easy to fill, and the easy-to-open seals make them ideal for kids. However, if you’re looking for something freezer- or sous vide-friendly, look elsewhere. The seal isn’t perfect, so it might cause leaks and freezer burn. We also found that the material was prone to staining, so maybe you shouldn’t use the bags for leftover spaghetti with sauce.

Professional chefs rely on multitasking cotton side towels like these for everything from cleaning counters to doubling as oven mitts (the kind that fits every hand). The absorbent towels feature a classic Herringbone design, are conveniently machine washable, and come in a pack of 15, so you’ll always have several on hand.

Prices may vary by color.

The rubberized feet on the basin make the Mueller feel very steady during use. But the hinges are a little underbuilt, allowing lid flex, and that can lead to less precise chopping. 

It also has inserts for chopping, grating, and mandoline work. The extra tools fit directly into a swappable lid. Pop out the chopping lid for the grating/mandoline/julienne one and slide in the blade you want to use. The working surface remains relatively low and easy to stabilize with one hand while you cut across the top with the other.  

The Fullstar Chopper typically costs $30, so you’re really only saving $5. It has a large cutting area and is incredibly sharp. The main grid has ½-inch and ¼-inch chopping blades. It also includes a spiralizer and a ribbon cutter, a food grip, two cleaning scrapers, and a cleaning brush.

Silicone is so squishy that it could have been a challenge to fill these molds. But the set includes a collapsible silicone funnel to help. (The reviewer still spilled liquid but not as much as they would have without one.) Bonus: This mold has a liquid line you can see on the inside of each cavity in case you aren’t sure when to stop filling.

These ice cube trays from Doqaus have plastic frames with silicone bases to make for easier cube removal. We found that the silicone bases make it a cinch to pop out the rectangular cubes with rounded corners, and there were no stray ice shards—or breakage—when we tried it ourselves. If you’re sensitive to taste, note that the tray imparts some flavor, but it’s marginal—and if placed in a flavorful beverage, you probably won’t notice.

This small plug-and-play sound machine from Magicteam is sized just right—like a deck of cards if cards were square. And it’s back down to the best price we’ve seen. It delivers good sound quality and variety, packing in 20 sounds, including nature sounds and even a freight train. The controls, just five buttons, are intuitive to use, although one evaluator said they were quite small and a bit difficult to see in low light. And it has a timer in case you don’t want it playing all night.

If you’re looking for a low-cost way to improve your sleep, a new eye mask could be the perfect option. Ginger Cowles, CR’s managing editor of new audiences, spotted this deal on her favorite, which happens to be the most popular sleep mask CR has tried:

"Gone are the days where I can just plop down and sleep without any preparation. I’ve reached the age where I need multiple products for a good night’s rest. My Coop pillow, a light comforter, ear plugs, and the Mzoo Sleep Mask are my go-tos. The Mzoo is a game-changer. My husband insists on working late nights in bed with his computer screen light powered up so high it practically burns my retinas. When I’m wearing this mask, it’s a nonissue. It blocks 100 percent of the light, stays on all night, and doesn’t get caught in my hair. Awesome mask. Stock up while it’s on sale and give them as gifts."

Sales on this sleep mask come and go quite frequently, and its typically high price is $23. We just saw the Mzoo on sale for $16.99, so the price may dip again.

This eye mask, with its contoured eye cups, is a great option for anyone with lash extensions or those who dislike the feeling of fabric on their eyes. One of our evaluators said that “it contours the orbital bones nicely and the eye mask is convex, giving the eyes some space without any pressure.” The sizing is ideal for those with average or larger heads, while those with smaller faces may struggle to keep the mask in place.

This set of two microfiber pillows offers very good support for side sleepers but earns just middling scores in our back support tests. And its resilience is just so-so. But if you sleep on the warmer side, you can find comfort in knowing that these pillows have maximum breathability.

The Bagail 8Set Packing Cubes won CR’s evaluator over with the sheer number and variety of cubes it offers. In addition to three packing cubes (medium, large, and extra large) that have mesh on the top panels to help you identify the contents inside quickly, it also comes with two zipper bags, a cosmetics bag, a shoe bag, and a drawstring bag that you can use to separate your dirty laundry. The extra organizational features were ultimately what gained Bagail the edge over the other packing cubes CR tried.

There are 14 different color options, but not every variation is on sale. Make sure to click the on-page coupon for the full discount.

Veken Packing Cubes provide great bang for your buck, though they are a few dollars more than we’ve seen recently. This set has the largest capacity among the cubes we tried, and you get eight different ones to stay organized: four small, medium, large, and extra large, a laundry bag, a shoe bag, a toiletries bag, and an accessories bag. The laundry bag in particular is on the larger side, which can be a real asset when you’re on a longer trip.

These microfiber hair towels from Tenstars were the most wallet-friendly option CR tried. This is especially true now that they’re on sale, as you get five towels for $10. They performed similarly to other towels when it comes to absorbency, and the texture was soft and fluffy. But you do sacrifice a bit of quality for the price, as these towels were sized somewhat smaller than others in our evaluation, and they weren’t as secure.

If you’re looking for a new hair towel that stays put, this might be the one you’ve been waiting for. Our testers found that the YoulerTex hair towels stayed snugly in place. They’re a bit thicker than other towels we evaluated, but this didn’t make them any more absorbent. The testers all said their hair was still damp after about half an hour of wear time, but it might be the perfect choice if you’re the kind of person who sleeps in their hair towel.

Discounts may vary by color.

The TP-Link Kasa Smart KL125 smart bulb offers the best deal of the 10 smart lightbulbs we evaluated. It retails for $15 per bulb and has a great array of colors and dimming performance that come close to the pricier Philips Hue. The bulb also works with Amazon Alexa, Google Home/Assistant, and Samsung SmartThings for voice and/or app control.

The TP-Link Kasa Smart WiFi Outdoor Plug is very easy to use, but its setup is somewhat confusing because of permissions requests in the iOS app and the process of verifying your email address. The app also preselects options for marketing email and sharing data for analytics, and the design of the app might confuse some users and leave them unaware that they’ve opted into these settings. But once setup is out of the way, it’s very easy to control the plug and create schedules in the app. The plug itself is also compact enough that it shouldn’t block other outlets, and it features labeled physical buttons and covers for each outlet.

The Meross Outdoor Smart Plug MSS620BHK receives great scores across our user experience tests, in part because of its quick account creation process and easy scheduling features. It’s also the only outdoor plug in our recent evaluation that works with all four major smart home systems. But it lacks energy monitoring. Each outlet can be controlled independently from the Meross app.

These Skullcandy Dime true wireless earbuds offer remarkable performance for the price. Above-average sound quality and decent battery life make them a good pick if you want something low-cost to toss in your gym bag. At this price, they’re a great option for a kid who’s always losing everything too.

This sale price is only $1 better than the typical price—it’s not a huge savings, but we haven’t seen it sell for any less either,so you’re definitely getting a deal, even if it is a small one. Rachel Rosenthal, an organizing expert and owner of Rachel and Company, swears by clear pantry bins and prefers to use them beyond the kitchen, including in the linen closet and even the bathroom. “While the name says ‘pantry,’ it does so much more!” she says. “I love that they allow you to easily create categories, see what is inside, and can be adapted to just about any space.” Rosenthal’s favorites are the iDesign Linus Pantry Bins, which come in many shapes and sizes for optimal versatility.

This Hopopro showerhead, now $5 less than we’ve seen in months, was the single best fixed showerhead in our most recent tests. Testers found that it provided a great-feeling shower while getting top marks for its modest consumption of water. It has five settings and uses 1.8 gallons of water per minute.

The Hopopro 6-function showerhead, which typically sells for no more than $24, is an easy-to-use handheld shower with variable settings for different users. In our tests, it provided a nice-feeling shower while using minimal water. We tested it with a 1.8-gallon-per-minute (GPM) flow restrictor in place, but it comes with a 2.5GPM restrictor if you want more pressure.

“I have two of these, and they’re great because they encourage the cats to drink more water,” says Amanda Arnold, senior manager of business analytics at CR. “Cats notoriously don’t usually drink enough water, so having these help keep their water cleaner and the kitties healthier!” The fountain comes with a filter inside and is dishwasher-safe.

This is a small discount for a water fountain that can go on sale for as low as $20, but if you’re in the market for a new one and this model sounds like the right fit, why not save an extra $2?