For Split-Screen Plans, Fresh Pasta and Properly Cold Drinks | Vol. 36

A normal phone asks you to conduct modern life through a narrow vertical slot: reply to a message, hop to a document, return to the message, lose the document, inspect a photo of a receipt you apparently need for tax reasons. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra 512GB takes a less modest view. Its supplied listing includes side-by-side multitasking, which is exactly the sort of feature designed for people who have accidentally made their phone their office, map, camera, queueing room and minor emotional-support rectangle.

The hardware case is unusually easy to read from the supplied details. There is an 8-inch QXGA+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X main display at 2504 x 2256, plus a 6.5-inch FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X cover display at 2520 x 1080. Both are rated at 422ppi and have adaptive 1–120Hz refresh rates. That is an aggressively screen-forward arrangement, and we admire a device that stops pretending everybody wants to do everything through a postage stamp.

Storage lands at 512GB for this variant, while the supplied UK listing also names 12GB, a 200MP camera, a 5000mAh battery, AI features and Now Nudge. It is a lot of phone on paper, built for someone who has graduated from occasional mobile admin to full-scale pocket bureaucracy.

There is one important bit of paperwork amid all this digital grandeur: the detailed 512GB Graphite listing is explicitly a UK version and includes a 3-year warranty. For a Canadian shopper, that is not a tiny footnote to skip while admiring the giant screen. It is the sort of detail that deserves more attention than the seventh open tab.

Fresh pasta is one of those domestic ambitions that sounds charming until it involves dough, a rolling pin, a drying rack, and somebody asking why the kitchen looks like a tiny carbohydrate factory. The Philips HR2660/03 7000 Series Pasta Maker hands some of that ceremony to a dedicated appliance.

This is not a dainty gadget for a single bowl of noodles. Its stated 700 g capacity can prepare up to eight portions in one go, giving it a credible place at family dinners and low-key dinner parties where opening another packet somehow feels like giving up. A digital display and included measuring cup keep the controls and portions close at hand.

Philips also includes shaping discs and a cleaning tool, while a storage compartment gives the accessories somewhere less chaotic to live. Dishwasher-safe cleaning features should help with the less glamorous part of fresh pasta, and HomeID app support is available for those who want it.

The catch is refreshingly physical: this is a 6.81 kg appliance measuring 32.2 cm high, 22.9 cm wide and 32.7 cm deep. It earns its space when larger fresh-pasta batches are genuinely part of the plan; in a tiny flat, it may become a monument to one enthusiastic Sunday.

Small coolers occupy a peculiar corner of adult life: too often they are either soft-sided bags with limited structure or giant plastic sarcophagi intended for feeding a family reunion. The YETI Roadie 15 is the more deliberate middle option: a hard cooler for a day out that requires actual provisions, not merely one heroic granola bar.

Its external dimensions are 42.9 W × 28.4 D × 35.6 H cm, so it is compact enough to make sense in a car or beside a camp chair, while the 34.5 × 19.1 × 26.9 cm interior is designed for food and drinks. The validated UK listing specifies room for 22 cans; standard wine bottles and two-litre soft-drink bottles can also fit on their side. This is the cooler for a picnic planned with suspicious competence.

YETI specifies pressure-injected polyurethane PermaFrost insulation, a QuickLatch for access and a BestDam drain plug. The DoubleDuty strap, LipGrip handles and BearFoot non-slip feet acknowledge the basic realities of cooler ownership: it needs carrying, opening and a stable place to sit once the snacks arrive.

There is, naturally, a catch: the empty cooler weighs approximately 4.35 kg. We think that trade-off makes most sense for someone travelling by car or settling in for the day, rather than walking across town with a litre of iced beverages and a developing grievance.

Skin care has somehow acquired the administrative burden of a home office: layered steps, tiny bottles, a schedule nobody can quite explain, and the faint suspicion that one more tool may finally bring order to it all. The medicube Booster Pro enters this scene as a black 6-in-1 real glass glow beauty massager, which is at least more elegant than trying to make your bathroom shelf look intentional by lining things up alphabetically.

The supplied listing places it firmly in Korean skin care territory and frames it around clear, radiant, firmer-looking skin. Its stated positioning is easy enough to understand: a glow-focused skin-care massager with a decidedly gadget-forward presence. For buyers drawn to a more device-led beauty ritual, that is a distinct proposition.

There is, however, a notable fog around the important bits. “6-in-1” sounds impressively efficient, but the supplied information does not name the six functions, describe how the massager operates, or set out what a buyer should expect from each one. The Booster Pro is therefore a curated pick for the person attracted to a dedicated beauty gadget and comfortable doing a little further homework—not for someone who considers a vague feature list a personal affront.

Our verdict is cautiously enthusiastic. The product’s positioning is appealingly specific, the black finish keeps the visual drama under control, and a multipurpose beauty massager has obvious appeal for shoppers who prefer a gadget-led approach. Just do not mistake a polished title for a complete instruction manual; the vanity counter has enough mysterious objects already.

Fetch is one of those wholesome activities that can become strangely administrative. One dog drops a ball at your feet. You throw it. The ball returns. This continues until somebody develops a sore shoulder, misses a video call, or discovers that “one more throw” was a legally binding agreement.

The PetSafe Automatic Dog Ball Launcher is an unusually committed answer to that problem: a device designed to launch balls so a fetch-minded dog can keep the loop going with less human arm involvement. We think that is exactly the sort of delightfully over-specific domestic machine worth considering—provided it is treated as a supervised game, not a furry childcare arrangement.

There is more adjustment here than the average novelty gadget earns. The launcher offers nine distance settings, six angle settings, and launch distances from 8 to 30 ft, letting owners select a setup that suits the available play area for indoor or outdoor use. Motion sensors provide protection up to 7 ft during play, a useful specification for a machine whose basic purpose is flinging tennis balls.

The caveat is refreshingly plain in the operating guide: monitor the pet during play, keep the launcher flat on the floor, and remember that it is not a child’s toy. Battery operation also calls for six D-cell batteries, not included. This is a clever fetch station, then, but it still requires pet monitoring and a drawer less barren than most battery drawers.