Not every gadget is made the same - some of them are incredibly cool yet pretty useless, while others are incredibly cool and useful gadgets. And that’s exactly how we like them! Now, where to find such must-have gadgets, hmm? Oh, right; as with everything, there’s a Reddit thread for that, too, where people shared their tried-and-tested must-have home gadgets that truly did change their lives! So, ready to check them out?
We get it; you might still be a bit skeptical of these cool gadgets - are they really what you’re looking for? Or will reading this list be a waste of your time? So here’s a sneak peek. First off, people mentioned tons and tons of must-have kitchen gadgets, and we wholeheartedly agree with each of them! Take something simple, like a really good can opener, and think how much better your life would be with one. It’s such a little thing, but it does make a difference (bye-bye cuts and wounds from opening cans with a knife - nobody needed you in the first place). Then, the Redditors also mentioned some fairly cheap gadgets, like a pocket knife or a shoehorn, which seem pretty dull and not so useful. That is until you really, really need them! And lastly, people also mentioned the best gadgets meant for a very specific task - like for making yourself an absolute banger of a taco - they admitted had changed their lives tremendously. All in all, these must-have gadgets range from pretty basic stuff you might’ve completely forgotten about to some really high-tech things you’ve been dreaming about for a while now.
So, ready to take a look at the must-have gadgets people on this AskReddit thread deemed as life-changing? If so, you know what to do here - scroll down below, check out the submissions, give the best ones your vote, and share this article with your friends!
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jerrythecactus wrote:
"I mean a fire extinguisher is a good investment for preventing house fires and stuff."
Another Reddit user added:
"It can't prevent, it can stop."
Well to be fair, if you use it to put off the frying pan fire, if CAN prevent your house from burning to the ground 🙃
"Carbon monoxide detector."
An essential. Faulty boilers or other such appliances can be fatal.
"A base-model Kindle and a free Overdrive account through your local library will give you access to more reading material than you could get through in a lifetime. So that's pretty neat."
"A cup. Holds liquids so they are easier to drink. Way easier to use than hands."
You don't say!!! I've been drinking liquids the wrong way my entire life.
"A headlamp.
Seriously, if you need a flashlight chances are you want to see what you are doing - with your hands. Normal flashlights have their purpose but more often than not you'll hold that thing with your teeth because you can't change that lightbulb you barely reach with only one hand or whatever it is you are doing."
"A reusable water bottle. Though I suppose it only becomes life changing if you actually fill it with water and use it."
"Electric Kettle - 1750 watts of water heating power (US) and 3000watts (UK).
Aside from the refrigerator, it is the most used appliance in the kitchen.
best $26 I've ever spent."
"A portable jump pack, with battery cables for a vehicle."
bootorangutan wrote:
"Dashcam."
MossBone added:
"I couldn’t agree more. I always watch dashcam videos on YouTube but never actually had anything happen to me until 2 months ago. Someone decided it was a good idea to run across the street at night and I struck him. All caught on dashcam."
AnomalousAvocado wrote:
"A bidet attachment for your toilet. Got one on Amazon for $30 and I will never go without again."
slaughterj11 added:
"This is a huge life changer and it even pays for itself in toilet paper you save. I could never go without and am amazed these aren't more common in the states."
Got one as a postpartum gift and can testify it's a godsend. Can't live without it anymore
Cydia_user_420 wrote:
"A glass screen protector. You guys are walking around with shattered $1000 iPhones i don’t understand why you cant afford a $50 screen protector."
JesterBarelyKnowHer responded:
"$50? I usually get them for about $5 each off Amazon. Best story was when I ran over my phone with the lawnmower. Glass screen protector broke, but phone was fine."
"Having a powerbank is a great tool when any electronic device is running low on battery. It's saved me dozens of times."
_Than0s wrote:
"As a person that lives in an apartment, a white noise machine has helped me take back my sleep."
PrinceVarlin added:
"I use it to fend off the creeping existential dread!"
"A plastic drain snake. They're about $5 and clear a drain more effectively than any chemical drain cleaner."
A user wrote:
"Immersion blender. You don't need the $500 one, the $36 will do."
ThatSentenceSucks replied:
"But the $500 one has 'Nutri' in the name. That means it doesn't cut the nutritious bits into less nutritious bits right?"
A user wrote:
"A back scratcher."
Another user responded:
"Where did you buy a wife for $50?"
"Under the door draft guard. Had no idea how drafty it was until I tried it out. It works year-round, so I'm not throwing away $ pumping up the heat and AC that just goes right out the front door."
My house has an added-on room that the previous tenants used for wine storage. It's completely uninsulated, so it's scorching hot in the summer and frigid in the winter. The room/closet is attached to the master bedroom, so it affects the temperature in the bedroom drastically. An attached-to-the-door draft guard worked perfectly to stop the temperature fluctuations.
"Bluetooth earbuds. I didn’t realize what I was missing until I got them."
I wear Bluetooth earbuds are all the time. Except they’re not earbuds. They’re my Cochlear Implants. They connect to Bluetooth, and since I always have them on, no one will ever know when I am listening to music…
"If your car doesn't have USB connections, an in-car cigarette-lighter-to-USB converter is great. Couple that with a tape-deck-to-aux converter, and it's audiobooks for days."
digikun wrote:
"Anyone who buys pre ground coffee, buy a $10 coffee grinder and start buying whole bean. It makes a world of difference in flavor. If you're going to drink something every day, might as well make it good, right?"
Another user added:
"In addition to that, a French press. The difference in taste is astounding."
GarlicsPepper wrote:
"Food scale. Takes like five seconds to measure something to the gram. Really useful, whether you're on a diet or just trying to get a bowl of oatmeal just how you like it."
MrFizzles replied:
"I've been on a diet since April and struggling to lose the last 10 pounds until I reach my goal weight. I bought a food scale about a week ago and I couldn't believe how off my guess were for some of the food I was making."
"You can get a water bottle with a straw that filter out almost all impurities, including bacteria, for about $30. We used these while camping in Africa. You can literally get water out of a random creek.
These can literally save lives."
"Switching from a 88 cent wall mart kitchen knife to a $9 Walmart kitchen knife has been life changing."
jward wrote:
"The biggest must have that nobody has if you live somewhere with snow and ice is a package of cat litter tossed in the back of your vehicle. Instant traction if you ever get stuck."
41i5h4 responded:
"I just use my floor mats. It has worked for me every time I've ever needed it."
"A warm fuzzy blanket that makes you want to kick the air while under it you know the kind but as a big one for the bed."
"I LOVE my mini Foreman grill that my grandma gave me.
It's so much easier to use and clean than a frying pan when I want to make a grilled sandwich, or a large, single cut of meat. It doesn't heat up the whole kitchen, and it's fast! It's also great for cooking a small portion of bacon."
vinsomm wrote:
"Phone charger hidden camera. Best purchase I’ve made in the last year. I get to watch my landlords maintenance guy snoop around my house and I get to watch my two dogs silly antics when they think no one is watching."
deskpalm responded:
"Oh, the dogs know. They just make it seem like they don't know."
"Dimmable light bulbs. No one realizes that bright lights at night aren't healthy and interfere with sleep. Darker lights at night are just so much of a quality of life improvement, explicitly to not have harsh lights when I'm tired, and implicitly for a healthier sleep pattern. Some are expensive like the Philips Hue set, but I got a kit from Sengled for $30."
Maybe I'm eccentric but I just deal with bright lights at night by turning them off
"A sink plunger. I never had one before, but I recently started using one and it really works great to clear clogs.
Just... don't mix it up with the toilet plunger. Or use your sink plunger in the toilet."
"Just... don't mix it up with the toilet plunger. Or use your sink plunger in the toilet."" -- In the same vein, after you poop, wash your hands in the toilet, not the sink.
Storiea wrote:
"The little handles you stick into the ends of corn so you don't get your hands all slippery. Truly the pinnacle of human innovation."
9989989 added:
"Bonus if they are shaped like farm animals."
"Recently found light bulbs at hd that not only have blue tooth controlled dim and color...
They have built in speakers
Whole house rocks now!"
So, they compromise both functions. This sort of idea is truly, truly dumb and is thought up by marketing people, not users. Or anyone who groks technology.
misterman573 wrote:
"FLEX TAPE."
funkyjiveturkey added:
"I SAWED THIS BOAT IN HALF."
Byizo wrote:
"Rasberry Pi."
the_loneliest_noodle added:
"I have like 5 of these things. Network wide ad blocking, file server, pocket arcade, diagnostic tool for work (IT), and super neat linux alarm clock I've hooked up to a 4.5 in touch-screen next to the bed.
The amount of stuff you can do with a $30 machine is incredible. And hell, half the things above I could do with the $5 version."
I have 3 of them. One does stallwart duty answering the phone and controlling my music system. The phone part blocks unwanted calls by using a fax modem to scan the caller id and answer any unwanted calls as a fax machine. The music controller integrates Alexa with my aging Squeezebox, which is not supported any more. Full voice search of my music library. :D
"A boot dryer. I’m telling you outdoors folks whether it’s for work for play it’s the best investment I’ve ever made."
"Digital luggage scale... I've packed more 49.9 lb checked bags and each time the airline folks give me that pro-style nod."
Or you can just get regular scale and weigh yourself with and without luggage 🤷♀️ works with cats too.
"A Chromecast. Anything you can watch on your phone, you can watch on your tv."
"A Bluetooth shower speaker. My phone isn't waterproof and the steam builds up in my bathroom so I bought a cheap speaker for about £10. Makes showering fell like much less of a chore and it will play music from my phone all the way from the next room."
"Those neat apple corer thingys that cut the apple into slices at the same time."
garycarroll wrote:
"Nite-lite for the bathroom, so you don't either blind yourself in the middle of the night or crash about."
wondersparrow replied:
"We changed the switches in our bathrooms to dimmable occupancy sensors. Walk in in the middle of the night, light turns on to its lowest setting. Want more light, tap the switch. Turns off on its own too, which is great.
Bedrooms got the same treatment with vacancy sensors. They won't turn on without tapping the switch, but they will turn themselves off."
Another user added:
"After 10pm if I open my bedroom door my hall light turn on to 5% and bathroom light 10%, close my door and they shut back off."
"Automatic soap dispenser in my kitchen. I deal with a lot of raw meat and this just helps give me so much peace of mind."
OK so I've always been a bit "eh?" about automatic soap dispensers. You're hands are dirty so you turn your tap on, wet your hands get squirt of soap from dispenser, wash your hands and then use your clean hand to turn the tap off. Surely an automatic tap would make more sense?????
"I bought a $25 bluetooth speaker and honestly it's been so handy. Already have a nice stereo in my room but this way I can listen to music in my kitchen while I am cooking."
"HDMI to Garden hose cable. Must have."
User No 1 wrote:
"A cheap gadget? I'll give you 2.
1.Ice Scraper
2.Spray bottle.
Fill the spray bottle with isopropyl alcohol 50% and water 50%. Apply liberally to ice cover windshields."
Titansjester responded:
"As long as you don't fill it with water and it isn't super cold out, spraying some windshield washing fluid on your windshield goes a long way to quickly remove frost."
It is very, very, VERY risky to spray water on a cold windshield (unless you love the look of cracks). If you're going to do it, use only COLD water (or antifreeze) and be patient.
MountainThorn42 wrote:
"A Shoehorn."
leclair63 added:
"Specifically a long one so you don't have to bend over as much!"
toppup wrote:
"ODB2 Scanner."
codered434 added:
"Yep. Now your car will tell you what's wrong with it before taking it to your mechanic. Also good to help make sure a new (or existing) mechanic isn't fraudulent."
Fault codes only tell you so much, and not necessarily what is wrong. I have one that is specific to my car and allows you to do things like reset airbag lights. That alone probably saved me the cost of the kit when I did some work on the seats and the airbag light came on.
"A non-fogging shower mirror."
"Literally rubber bands. Got a soda bottle that's apparently tougher than the others? Wrap a rubber band around it and then twist it. Got a jar that's apparently tougher than the others? Wrap that rubber band around and do a twist. It's made my life easier and has reduced the amount of times my hands were rubbed raw and stung afterwards."
"One of those adapters that let you connect harddrives to USB. get one that does pata and sata.
If your computer dies, you can recover your harddrive, if a friends goes, you can save thier music and documents.
If the harddrive is the part that breaks, most of the time you can freeze it (IN A ZIPLOCK!) overnight, and in the morning, you'll usually have another 2 or 3 hours to transfer files to another PC.
These tips will make you a superhero when it counts. nab one of those adapters, 10, maybe 15 bucks."
If your hard drive fails, your data is dead. How about making a backup?
They make camera drones now that fit in your pocket for around 50.
I got one for the hell of it and its a lot more useful than you'd think.
I scared off a woodpecker that was harassing my sister by knocking on her wall at 5 in the morning.
I checked my parent's gutters and roof for them, when they only off hand mentioned they needed to check it in passing."
Have to be careful with these - invasion of privacy being one problem, and interfering with aircraft being another.
"Plastic ducks for the bath."
Is there a shower version? Who the heck still takes baths, unless it's with company that's more interesting than a rubber ducky.
prime-meridian wrote:
"A cigarette lighter, even if you don't smoke. Handy for candles, or burning off stray threads from clothing."
Sentient6ix added:
"Plus, I tend to light my friends' cigs for them just to be that dude every once in a while."
Also handy for providing light when crawling under the house to investigate a gas leak
"A telescoping pen that goes on your keychain. They forget to give you a pencil at the Sushi place? No problem. Need to sign your kids permission slip at the school. Got it. Need to write a check on the fly.
Tru Utility Telescoping Pen... fantastic buy."
Get two, and then you can use them as chopsticks if they forget to give you any at that sushi place.
"A milk frother. It's like going to Starbucks in your underwear."
Meh. Go all-out and get a good espresso machine (with frother!). I laughed at the idea for many years, but recently got one and now use it several times a day, every day (unlike many of my other kitchen gadgets). It seems a kinda daunting at first, but after a little practice you no longer even have to think about it. Just don't be too much of a perfectionist, unless your goal in getting it is just to impress your buds.
"Get a USB footpedal. Even with shipping, you could get it below $50.
I got a 3 foot-pedal, I use it for programming, gaming and just web browsing. It opens a whole new world of laziness.
Think of a foot pedal as alternative way to press keyboard shortcuts. I binded mine personally to Previous Tab (Ctrl+Shift+Tab), Close Tab (Ctrl+W), and Next Tab (Ctrl+Tab). Though I have sometimes rebinded them if I'm gaming to Crouching, Running, Push-To-Talk, Display Scores in games, and anything else. It's like a keyboard for your feet basically."
Don't bother rebinding! Use autohotkey to create program-specific macros and the shortcuts will work differently for different use-cases. Takes a bit to set up, but once it's running, it's a godsend. I dont use foot-pedals (my animals would chew the cords) but i got a gaming mouse for this specific purpose. Not much of a gamer, but having push-button shortcuts is AMAZING.
"Buy a good magnet and go magnet fishing."
Remember if you catch anything smaller than a tin can you have to throw it back in
_MrSolo_ wrote:
"Lock picking set for sure, you'll enjoy it so much."
NickMarcil added:
"I really love picking doors for 60 min while swearing, you are right. It's so random, some take me 5 seconds, some are impossible, they all are 5-6 pin normal door lock. On the other hand, all 3-4 or lower pin lock take 5min max."
"With great power comes great responsibility, but what you're looking for is a TV-B-Gone.
It fits on your keychain, and with one press of a button, it cycles through every major TV brand's "off button" and turns off every TV in your vicinity.
If you buy this thing, don't be a prick about it. If there are 300 people in a sports bar watching a game, that stuff is NOT funny.
Please find your moral compass and use it responsibly. Maybe a waiting room at the dentist has had Fox News on for an hour and you're sick of it. Maybe your lazy teacher is showing you a documentary instead of teaching. Maybe you want to punk your roommate into thinking the TV is broken.
That's all fine. And this thing works. Just please don't turn a sports bar into pure anarchy."
As loathsome as Fox is, I'm even more annoyed by the home (dis)improvement shows that are de rigueur for medical offices these days. I'm a homeowner, and that stuff is 96.4% BS. I've often thought about zapping the TV in my doctor's and dentist's offices.
I’m not sure if it qualifies as a gadget, but the best thing I can advice just about anyone to buy is a foam roller. They’re cheap, they last for ever and if you make the habit of using them daily, trust me you’ll be very grateful.
Excuse my ignorance, but what is a foam roller?
Load More Replies... I’m not sure if it qualifies as a gadget, but the best thing I can advice just about anyone to buy is a foam roller. They’re cheap, they last for ever and if you make the habit of using them daily, trust me you’ll be very grateful.
Excuse my ignorance, but what is a foam roller?
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