Best Deals Under $50

The Voweek is the only model in our ratings with an adjustable head, which helps to make tough-to-reach spots easier to access. At about 1.7 pounds, it was the heaviest tool we tested, and it felt substantial and well built in the reviewer’s hand. He didn’t mind the extra weight, but users with limited strength or mobility might.

At 27 inches long, even in its most compact configuration, this model offers a bit more reach than the Leebein. But it comes with only four attachments, as opposed to the Leebein’s eight. The extra length of the handle may have made it ever so slightly tougher for the reviewer to get between his bathroom faucet and backsplash, but it didn’t impede much in terms of cleaning. 

These scrubbers typically retail for around $55, so you’re saving a decent amount.

The top-performing power scrubber from Leebein was unique in that it was the only model without a telescoping handle, which is both a plus and a minus. We like basic handle designs largely because they tend to be shorter than the 20 inches you’ll get from most telescoping options in their smallest configuration. As a result, the Leebein, with its modest 12-inch handle, was able to get into tight areas the other scrubbers (all with telescoping handles) simply couldn’t reach. It does come with two extra handles. They extend the reach to 30 or 39 inches but are a bit annoying to screw in.

The Leebein also has eight attachments, making it the hands-down winner on that front. And because it was the lone model that allows you to remove the handle extension, it was 5 to 12 pounds lighter than the others we tested. It has two speeds, low and high, and its cleaning head is fixed permanently at an angle that’s conducive to cleaning most surfaces.

The Labigo Electric Spin Scrubber comes with four different cleaning heads (large flat, small flat, pointed corner, and large round). It has a single speed and weighs 26 ounces with its extension handle. The unit’s battery is located in the handle, and its head is fixed at 45 degrees, so this unit may not fit into tighter spaces.

The Harbor Breeze Solar Black Indoor Outdoor String Lights have a longer cord and wider spacing than many string lights, and they boast Edison-style bulbs. In our tests, they earned above-average marks for light duration and can be recharged with a USB cord (included). Each of the 10 lights has a single LED filament (which has multiple LEDs), and our tester found the light to be bright. These lights can be charged, and they also have two light settings and an on/off switch. 

The Brightech Pro Solar Powered Outdoor String Lights are the best in class in our test, with above-average marks for light duration and a top score for ease of use. Long with widely spaced lights, its design provides more flexibility—you can run the strand as is for more subtle lighting, or double up the cord to concentrate more of the light in a tighter space. Each of its 12 separate Edison-style oval-shaped bulbs has 24 LEDs, resulting in exceptionally bright light. The lights can’t be manually charged, but they do have replaceable batteries and an on/off button to preserve power.

The JSOT Outdoor Solar Deck Lights topped our test as the only deck light that earned top marks for light duration. Designed to be mounted to a stair riser or other solid surface and attached with screws, it emits a medium-bright light, and each light contains 3 LEDs. While the lights can’t be charged with a cable, they have an on/off switch, so you can turn them off to build up power if you’re concerned about their charge.

It’s hard to contend with the value offered by the Gigalumi Grid Solar Pathway Lights. Their cost is lower (on a per-light basis) than just about any other path light we’ve seen, and yet they earn solid marks for both light duration and ease of use. The light cast comes from a single LED in each of the lights—casting a dimmer glow than that of the other products we tested. That may not be a dealbreaker if you’ve got supplemental lighting elsewhere, or if you’re using these strictly to create ambience. There’s a single setting and an on/off button, along with a removable battery. But the lights can’t be charged or angled. 

The Ninja Master Prep Professional QB1004 features a unique top-mounted motor to turn out snow cone–textured ice for smoothies. While Ninja doesn’t claim this model makes hot soups and juices, it shines at all the main blending tasks. Plus, the removable blade makes cleanup easy. Swap out the 6-cup blending jar for its 16-ounce food chopper and this versatile Ninja does an impressive job chopping onions and nuts and grating cheese. But at just 450 watts, it’s the lowest-powered blender of this bunch.

This Mr. Coffee machine is designed for people who like a lot of different styles of coffee and prioritize flexibility in their coffee maker. It brews both hot and cold coffee in single servings, and it comes with a reusable tumbler, lid, straw, reusable coffee filter, and dual-sided scoop. It’s worth noting that it didn’t perform particularly well in our tests. Its brew performance passed muster, but our testers found it to be fairly difficult to operate and clean. The machine also required some time to cool off between runs, though if you’re using this only for single cups of coffee at a time, that shouldn’t be an issue.

This compact and inexpensive Cosori air fryer isn’t for huge batches of food, but its 1.7-quart measured basket can air-fry, roast, bake, and reheat food well. Its digital controls are easy to use, and it’s simple to clean (it’s dishwasher-safe), but its biggest perk is that it’s especially quiet. When we set the temperature to 350° F, its recorded temperature was a bit lower at 335° F, but you can adjust a little to accommodate this. It comes with a two-year warranty, which is more generous than the one-year warranty offered with most air fryers.

If you’re looking for a no-frills rice cooker that works well and isn’t too pricey, this model from Hamilton Beach could be a great option. It got above-average marks in CR’s tests for cooking both 1 and 3 cups of rice, as well as the use of controls and convenience. It has a 4-cup capacity for dry rice, and there are pre-programmed settings for cooking food. You’ll also get a steamer basket, measuring cup, and rice paddle.

This just dropped $5 from its previous low price.

This Leidawn 12.8" carbon steel wok is flat-bottomed, has a hammered texture and comes pre-seasoned. Like some other woks we tested, the metal section of its handle is short, and so is less likely to be grabbbed by unwary cooks, and it also lacks an extra handle that would make it easier to move when full. This pan comes with a wooden lid and a variety of stainless steel utensils as well

This Souped Up Recipes 12.5-inch carbon steel wok is flat-bottomed, has a hammered texture and comes pre-seasoned. Its cooking evenness score was excellent, and it was also very good at heating quickly. And like the others, the metal section of its handle is short, and so is less likely to be grabbed by unwary cooks. It lacks a helper handle, which makes it harder to move when full. It comes with a wooden lid and a stainless steel spatula.

The Kaqinu 12.6-inch carbon steel wok is flat-bottomed, has a hammered texture and comes pre-seasoned. In our tests it aced the cooking evenness test; its speed of heating was very good, and we found it easy to use. Cleaning, however, was a bit of a challenge. The metal section of its handle is short, and so is less likely to be grabbed by unwary cooks. It lacks an extra handle, making it harder to move when full. This wok comes with a wooden lid and a variety of stainless steel utensils.

When you think of the brand Instant Pot, its line of multicookers usually comes to mind, but the company has branched out into coffee makers and frothers. Its affordable Instant Milk Frother was one of the best models in our at-home review, offering performance almost on par with the Nespresso Aeroccino4 milk frother, which costs more than twice as much. The only downside is that the Instant Milk Frother isn’t dishwasher safe, since its controls are built into the side of the carafe. Cleaning is still a breeze, though—you just need to hand-wash it with a wet cloth.

Henckels has been making knives in Germany for almost 300 years, and its expertise in design is on full display with this knife. The Premio was the Goldilocks of the eight knives we tested, and in the end, it was the only one with a positive review from all four of our panelists. The handle is contoured, with no sharp edges, resulting in a knife that’s extremely comfortable to hold. One user said their hand became clammy during use, but the knife was well received overall. It also excelled at force transmission from handle to blade, which means you don’t need to exert as much effort when cutting.

This is just $2 more than the lowest we’ve seen, marking an excellent time to buy this knife.

The ThermoPro features refreshingly simple-to-read results, making it a great pick for reasonably confident cooks who merely want the ability to check on food from afar. This smart meat thermometer is not truly wireless. Instead, two wired probes dock in a rechargeable base station. The base station then uses Bluetooth to transmit real-time cooking information to a paired smartphone.

The InkBird IBT-4DXS BT is the highest-rated digital meat thermometer in CR’s tests. It offers app connectivity with estimated cook times, four separate probes, built-in alarms, and the ability to charge the device while actively monitoring temperatures. InkBird boasts decent range in outdoor environments, up to 150 feet.

This food storage set from Bayco could be a great option if you’re looking to add reuseable containers to your kitchen. It comes with 12 containers (and 12 matching lids) in different sizes and shapes for any and all of your storing needs, and the lids use a snap closure to ensure a top-notch seal. In CR’s tests, this set got top marks for seal quality, ease of use, and durability, with a near-perfect score for storage.

The C Crest glass food storage set is a great option, especially at this sale price. It gets top marks for storage, seal quality, and durability, making it one of the highest ranking sets CR has tested. And the set comes with five large containers and five small ones, all with matching lids that seal tightly thanks to clamps on each side.

Shopping for noise-canceling headphones on a budget doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice performance. Case in point is the SoundCore Life Q20. These over-ear headphones have great sound quality and outstanding noise cancellation. It doesn’t sound quite as good as top-rated models, and you won’t get sought-after features like adjustable levels of noise canceling. But at this price, those may be sacrifices worth making.

Anker does include some appealing perks, too, such as the ability to work over either Bluetooth or an audio cable, and a free app that adds features, including a bass boost EQ setting. According to Anker, the headphones have a generous 40-hour battery life when Bluetooth and noise canceling are both turned on.

The Audio-Technica ATH-SQ1TW are top-scoring true wireless earbuds that provide stellar audio quality packed into a pair of sleek and unobtrusive earpieces available in a variety of colors. They offer a number of great features. They’re not noise canceling, but the silicone ear tips provide quite a lot of passive isolation. There’s even an ambient sound mode for when you want to keep an ear on your environment. They have easy-to-use touch controls for volume, playback, and skipping tracks, and they feature convenient USB-C charging. The headphones also include an unusual low latency mode, which reduces the slight lag you sometimes get with Bluetooth headphones, for better performance with games and videos. According to Audio-Technica, they have a 6.5-hour battery life, and the charging case stores an extra 13 hours of power.

The Roku Express 4K+ replaced the Roku Premiere in the company’s lineup. Like that model, it’s a small set-top box that offers 4K picture quality, plus support for both HDR10 and HDR10+ high dynamic range formats, though not Dolby Vision, which is found in some pricier models. The included WiFi voice remote control has TV controls that let you turn the TV on, adjust the set’s volume, and use Roku Voice to launch channels, search for content, and control streaming services.

The competitively priced, ultrasonic Aqua Oasis AO-101 handles humidifying small rooms with ease. It passes almost every performance test with flying colors: moisture output, convenience, noise, and energy efficiency. It also earns a respectable score for output using hard water. We can’t judge humidistat performance because this unit has none; it also can’t be programmed. But for a small outlay, you get an empty-tank indicator and automatic shutoff, both pluses.

On just about every measure, including moisture output and noise, the Crane Owl humidifier soars. It’s convenient to use, though not being able to get a hand into the tank for cleaning is a drawback. The 250-square-foot claimed coverage area is on the high end for a small-room model. Other animal figures in this Crane series are Wyatt the Fox, Puffington the Penguin, Misty the Unicorn, Sidney the Sheep, the Crane Train, Hello Kitty, Freddy the Frog, Mya the Monkey, Violet the Hippo, and Elliot the Elephant. They all perform similarly and may be on sale for similar prices. This humidifier has been at this sale price for a long time, so it’s not a rare deal, but you definitely should never pay more than this.

The Hot Tools 24k Gold Professional Curling Iron is one of the lowest-priced curling irons CR tried and liked, and our testers found that it resulted in looser curls. It has temperature control and heats up faster than the recommended wait time of about a minute.

This is $9 more than the lowest price we’ve seen.

​​Brushed microfiber isn’t as breathable as cotton, but for those who don’t find synthetic fibers to be a hang-up, this Mellanni sheet set is a top-notch pick. It offers a softer feel than most cotton options and is pretty resistant to wrinkling, and you can expect a great fit even after a year of laundering. You can also expect to have this set in rotation for a while, because it does pretty well in our strength test. The one area where these bedsheets miss the mark a bit is in our fit test. Though the packaging claims “deep pockets,” this set is best suited for mattresses with a depth of 10 inches or less.

Prices will vary by color and size, but most options are discounted.

The Jall Wake Up Light Sunrise Alarm Clock is less than half the price of other popular models, like those offered by Philips and Lumie. But from an ease-of-use standpoint, this model comes out on top. It has two independent alarms (so that you can set them for different times, depending on your routine), seven alarm tones (including “wind bells” and birds chirping), an FM radio, and a fall-asleep mode that simulates a sunset (though it lacks a white-noise option).

Elevated beds are ideal for puppies or the destroyers—the dogs who would otherwise rip up beds, says Cathy Madson, a certified dog trainer with Preventive Vet. The Frisco Steel-Framed Elevated Dog Bed isn’t warm, fuzzy, cozy, or any other word you’d use to describe a plush mattress. But it will put up a solid, sturdy fight against those dogs we know and love who are out to destroy the universe with their teeth and paws. It’s durable and easy to assemble, and the cover can be removed and washed, so you don’t have to deal with slobber and fur buildup.

If you can have only one pet hair removal tool in your cleaning toolbox, this is the one. The ChomChom was a favorite with our at-home evaluators and the best-performing option in our formal lab tests. What sets it apart is that it’s the only tool that gathers and picks up all of the pet hair it touches. After just three forward and backward swipes, our velvet and linen-polyester pillows were left almost completely free of hair, minus a few stragglers. It was the best tool on carpet, too, even though crouching low to use it wasn’t the most comfortable position. No other tool left it as hair-free as the ChomChom. One evaluator who has carpal tunnel syndrome noted that this tool required significantly less pressure to work, which meant that her condition wasn’t aggravated as it was with a few of the other pet hair removers. It’s also worth noting that three of our at-home evaluators liked this tool so much that they bought it for themselves post-evaluation.

The Analan Mini Pet Hair Remover is a triangle-shaped device that has three unique ridged sides, and it did very well in our evaluations. The rubber material created a static attraction with our velvet pillow so that it was able to pick up all of the cat hair we applied to the surface. But this was the only surface where it picked up hair. On the polyester-linen blend pillow, it bunched up the hair in easier-to-pick-up piles. Ditto for the carpet, where it did a great job gathering up the hair in neat piles, but we did notice some redepositing of hair on subsequent swipes as it became stuck on the ridges. The hole in the center of the triangle allows for a comfortable grip, and switching from one side to another was easy. Because the ridged surfaces are so small, cleaning a large area, like a whole upholstered couch, takes a significant amount of time.

Shopping editor Mary Beth Quirk recommends this cheeky toy that’s bound to please. “It can keep my cat happy and playing for a long time,” she says, “and I can tell she loves it—to the point that her love of chewing on it has required me to get a regular banana subscription to keep her supplied. Plus, she’s just super-cute when she grabs it in her paws and bunny-kicks it to death.”

At just under $2, this plush teddy bear—with a removable squeaker in tow—is a no-brainer. “Kong has a line of soft squeaky toys that have replaceable squeakers that they love and last long,” says Nicky Besuden, CR’s associate director of new ventures.

The Tractive GPS Dog LTE was especially easy to set up and use. Light and compact yet sturdy, the slender unit easily attaches to any dog collar and will fit comfortably on most small dogs and even cats. This is the top-scoring model in our testing, and the app is among the best of the bunch, with a clean and intuitive interface. In the “live” mode, which you activate if your pet goes AWOL, it geolocates every 2 to 3 seconds, and that makes for more precise tracking, showing you locations almost in real-time.

A cat water fountain was by far the most popular product pick for pet owners during the holidays, according to our colleagues. Joe Novotny, a CR marketing associate, recommends this version from Petlibro: “The pump has a five-level filtration system, a translucent container for seeing when water is running low, and comes with a cleaning brush as well.”

“I have a deep fear that my cat doesn’t drink enough water and will end up with kidney issues,” says Stephanie Davis, a senior marketing manager at CR. And if you’re a cat parent who shares that concern, a water fountain may be the answer. “She won’t drink still water from a bowl and wasn’t keen on one other fountain before this—the filters are also easy to change for this one—but she loves this one for some reason.”

“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 helps keep their water cleaner and the kitties healthier!” The fountain comes with a filter inside and is dishwasher-safe.

The Ruvalino Diaper Bag Backpack comes with a reasonably sized changing pad, two large zipper closure compartments, and 16 pockets. In addition to holding baby items, it can easily be used as a laptop bag, with a secure internal slot just for tech. Its main attraction is that it’s exceptionally light for the amount of storage and height you get, which means you can prioritize adding weight from items you need rather than from a bulky bag itself. The backpack straps will feel comfortable for several hours. And the polyester material is easy to spot-clean.

There are 16 different colorways, and most of them are on sale for varying prices.

Parents feeling the inflation pinch can save on this extra-wide baby gate for crawling or waddling children under 2 years old (pets too!). The all-steel pressure-mount gate is ideal for doorways, hallways, and the bottom of stairs. It comes with multiple safety lock features, and it’s extendable by 6 additional inches, if necessary. It’s designed for kids ages 6 months to 24 months, and it’s certified to standards set by the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association and the American Society for Testing Materials.

This baby gate is made of a mesh material rather than vertical bars so that it can retract fully to one side of the doorframe. Unrolling it is easy, too: Just press down on a button and slide the latch to the open position. It did extremely well in our tests for security and installation, and our testers found it reasonably convenient to use. It measures 33 inches in height and can fit openings up to 55 inches wide.

We’ve seen the price for this safety gate dip as low as $35, but this is still a nice discount if you can’t wait to buy.

The TP-Link Kasa Smart Pan & Tilt KC410S 24/7 security camera offers stellar video quality and quickly sends alerts when motion is detected, CR’s tests have found. This low-priced camera also earns a strong rating for data security and a midrange rating for data privacy. It features voice and app control via Amazon Alexa and Google Home/Assistant, two-way audio, monitoring zones, person alerts, and alerts for loud noises.

The TP-Link Kasa Cam Outdoor KC420WS offers impeccable video quality, speedy alerts, and strong data security in our tests. Its many features include two-way audio, voice and app control via Amazon Alexa and Google Home/Assistant, monitoring zones, person alerts, a built-in siren, color night vision, and local video storage when you insert a microSD card (not included).

This is still available for the best price we’ve seen.