I was discussing the concept of Enshittification with a friend recently, and I began to think: what products have I bought recently that are actually good? I’ve compiled a list of products that actually improved aspects of my life tangibly. Hopefully immune to enshittification, but I have my doubts.

Roborock QV35a

I definitely need to write another blog post about robot vacs because I spent hours researching the best one that met my requirements. I’ve set mine up to run 3 times a week (it gets real dusty) and that has easily saved me ~1 hour a week vacuuming myself. Especially important is the auto-emptying function; the only “work” I have to do now is replace the bag every couple months and maybe lightly dust the sensors once in a while.

Nitecore NU25

This purchase was unexpectedly awesome for me. Initially I had just wanted to get a flashlight since we were experiencing pretty frequent power outages (thanks PG&E), so I figured something where I could keep my hands free was a good idea. Turns out this is super bright, has a red light mode for retaining nighttime vision, blinks, etc. I’ve found it useful for going on runs and walks at night, for doing work around the house involving the attic or underneath sinks. Just a generally useful item to have.

Kobo Clara BW

Before buying the Kobo, I had an old Kindle Paperwhite. It worked fine, even if it was old and pretty slow. It had a backlight but it was blue and incredibly uncomfortable to read in bed at night with dim lights. So I started looking for an e-reader with two specific features in mind: warm light and high pixel density/clarity. The Kobo Clara BW hit both of those and had the added benefit of not being Amazon (Although for me the jury is out for Rakuten). With the Calibre application and Kobo, I think I’ve found the perfect setup for my reading. I’m reading way more before bed, which means less phone time, which means I feel sleepy faster.

Garmin Smart Scale

A regular scale should be enough to be useful right? Well the issue is that I forget to keep track of my weight because it’s kinda cumbersome to record it in the Health app or on a piece of paper. Plus a piece of paper doesn’t have a pretty graph. So, I bought a Garmin (already in their ecosystem) scale that, after setup, automatically pushes each time you weigh yourself to your phone. It has a bunch of other “features” like body fat percentage but I don’t think any of the other stuff is accurate enough to be useful. I’ve found just seeing the chart of my weight over time is motivating enough to keep me disciplined about it.

Hue Bulbs

At first the goal with hue bulbs was to have them mimic the warmth of light throughout the day so that in the evenings, they would be nice and orange. What I didn’t think about, that I now use all the time, is using them to wake up slowly in the mornings. Honestly better than any alarm, and way more gentle. Especially when we’re on standard time and it’s winter and it’s absolutely pitch black out when I need to wake up.

Gaggia Classic Pro

Gaggia Classic Pro. A fantastic, if basic, machine. In combination with a 1zpresso handgrinder and some beans and milk, I’ve been making great coffee at a fraction of the price. Around here, a latte can usually run you ~$6 at a proper cafe which is a little insane for me if I drink one every day. It ends up being ~$42 a week, and that’s not even counting if I want to do a vanilla latte or something else. I think the last time I calculated the price per cup at home it was something like $1.50? Although I’m sure tariffs are messing that up now :|

Solar Panels For Eufy Security Cameras

This one may be a bit more niche, but since I have security cameras that are battery-powered, I would have to take them down every 2-3 months in order to charge them. Eufy claims 6 months but, lol. Marketing. It was a whole ordeal because I would have to break out the ladder, take them down to charge, wait 5 hours to charge, climb up the ladder again and put them back. I bought generic 15w solar panels that I could connect to them and now I never have to think about charging them. I’m pretty sure they never go below 90% charge.