Better Coffee, Brisker Workdays and Pets Kept in View | Vol. 14

The Ninja Luxe Premier ES601UK exists for the household whose coffee orders have become a minor coalition government. One person wants espresso, another wants a cappuccino, somebody has discovered cold brew, and suddenly a jar of instant looks like a personal failure rather than a perfectly decent weekday solution.

Ninja’s answer is one 3-in-1 coffee machine covering espresso, latte, cappuccino and cold brew, with a built-in bean grinder and milk frother. We think that is precisely why it earns a prominent place here: it takes the sprawling café menu seriously enough to put it on the worktop, rather than asking you to buy a separate gadget every time somebody develops a new drink personality.

The ES601UK is explicitly the UK variant, using a 220–240 V, 50–60 Hz supply, and it carries a 2 L removable reservoir. Those are rather unglamorous details, but they matter more than another photograph of crema in moody lighting. The reservoir can be taken to the tap; the voltage means this is for a UK kitchen, not an optimistic plug-adapter experiment.

This is a broad-brief machine, not a tiny espresso purist’s ornament. Its appeal is practical excess: grinder, frother, espresso and cold brew in one unit, with four automated froth presets listed for the milk side of proceedings. There is inevitable countertop commitment, of course. Coffee has become a hobby with infrastructure, and Ninja has at least had the courtesy to consolidate some of it.

If you’ve ever found yourself staring longingly at your kitchen fizzing away while you sip your boring old flat water, welcome to your salvation: the Aarke Carbonator 3 in Copper. A distinctly classy little contraption, it turns plain water into a sparkling sensation—it’s like having your very own soda fountain at home, without the neon lights and sticky floors. I mean, who wouldn't want to impress their friends with homemade glitz on a Wednesday night?

But let's not kid ourselves—this isn’t just about aesthetics, although that copper finish is worth its weight in Instagram likes. It solves a quintessential modern-day dilemma: how to hydrate with a little sparkle while also saving the planet from yet another plastic bottle. This charming gadget places sustainability right at your fingertips.

Of course, there’s a slight catch: you’ll have to deal with CO2 cylinders, which may feel like a faff in this day of convenience, but we all know that the satisfaction of creating your own bubbly beverage is worth it. The pop of carbonation and your superhero-like powers in the kitchen are bound to make even the dullest dinner party a fizzing success.

The Keychron K2 HE Wireless exists for the person whose keyboard has become both a work tool and a small, extremely specific hobby. By day, it may be opening a spreadsheet; by evening, it is being asked to react to a frantic game input with all the dignity of a tiny command centre. We think that is a reasonable ambition, though civilisation did manage perfectly well before every key needed a configurable actuation point.

This Special Edition is the useful bit for UK buyers: it is a fully assembled UK-ISO K2 HE, rather than another handsome board asking you to make peace with an unfamiliar Enter key. Its 75% layout, aluminium-and-wood construction and OSA double-shot keycaps give it a deliberately considered spec, without requiring a separate degree in keyboard archaeology merely to identify the version.

Magnetic switches are the main attraction. The K2 HE lets you set actuation between 0.2 and 3.8 mm in 0.1 mm steps, and includes Rapid Trigger plus four-in-one Dynamic Keystrokes. That is meaningful control for gaming, but it is also precisely the sort of feature that can lead to an evening spent adjusting settings instead of doing the thing you bought the keyboard for. Still, choices are nice; uncontrolled choices are practically a desktop accessory.

It has the modern desk’s full collection of connection routes: 2.4 GHz wireless, Bluetooth 5.2 and USB-C wired. Bluetooth can connect to three devices, while wired and 2.4 GHz reach a stated 1000 Hz polling rate. Add support for macOS, Windows and Linux, and the K2 HE earns its place as a capable second perspective in a keyboard selection: not plain, not cheap-and-cheerful in spirit, but unusually well equipped for a mixed work-and-play setup.

A cat camera is already a fairly specific admission: you would like to know what happens at home while you are out, and you suspect the answer may involve a shelf, a paper bag and an expression of profound innocence. The Furbo 360° Cat Camera leans into the premise rather than pretending it is a sober household appliance.

Its central trick is movement. The camera has a 270-degree physical rotation range that produces a 360-degree wide-angle view, so the scene need not stay pointed at the one patch of carpet your cat abandoned ten minutes ago. Furbo states that it rotates at approximately 17 degrees per second. That is a specification, not a guarantee that one can outmanoeuvre a determined tabby, but it is plainly more ambitious than a static little spy cylinder.

The selected UK version also puts interaction on the menu: two-way audio, a feather wand and a treat tosser sit alongside 1080p HD video, night vision and meow alerts. We think that makes it a useful complementary pick for people who want the camera to do more than document the great sofa vigil. A remote treat toss is not essential to human survival. Neither is decent cheese, yet here we are.

There is, however, an unusually large asterisk in the room. This listing requires a subscription purchase and a three-month commitment to unlock it. That does not erase the appeal, but it means the Furbo is best approached as an ongoing pet-tech arrangement, not an impulsive gadget for one anxious weekend away. Setup also includes an automatic calibration: it begins around 40 seconds after connection and takes about 15 seconds, which is at least a brief administrative pause before the household’s newest employee starts work.

The Enabot EBO Air 2 FamilyBot is for the particular domestic anxiety of leaving a pet alone and then imagining, at 11:17am, that it has somehow negotiated access to the biscuit cupboard. A fixed indoor camera can watch one sofa. This little 282 g robot is designed to trundle about and make the whole arrangement considerably more entertaining.

Its camera records at 2K resolution, or 2304 × 1296 pixels, with a 137° angle, while two-way talk and night vision cover the obvious “what is happening in there?” moments. It also supports both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Wi-Fi, plus JPG and MP4 files, and arrives with a pre-inserted 32 GB SD card. Sensible details, tucked inside a device that looks determined to become the household’s least qualified security officer.

The case for it is not that every home needs a roaming camera. Most absolutely do not. The appeal is for the pet owner who wants to check more than one carefully framed rectangle of floor, and who finds a mobile camera more useful than an ominous fixed lens pointed at the dog bed.

Our hesitation is architectural. The EBO Air 2 can cross obstacles up to 6 mm and slopes up to 4°, so it is happiest in a reasonably level home with forgiving floor changes. Add its stated 4–7 hour battery life and 61 dB operating noise, and this becomes a charmingly specialised household gadget rather than a silent, tireless robot butler. Which is fair enough; robot butlers have made enough promises already.