For Wet Hair, Weak Coffee and a Wandering Dog | Vol. 16

The Dyson Airstrait exists for the bathroom counter that has become a small electrical depot: one tool for drying, another for straightening, several leads breeding overnight and a vague sense that getting ready ought not require air-traffic control. Its UK product identity is admirably blunt: this is a straightener and dryer. We think that makes it the most immediately legible sort of premium grooming gadget. There is no need to decode a lifestyle manifesto or pretend one more appliance is a personality. The appeal is simply fewer distinct objects involved in the hair portion of a rushed morning, which is a remarkably persuasive proposition when the sink is already surrounded by bottles with increasingly optimistic labels. The Airstrait is not presented here as a miracle cure for every hair concern, because the supplied UK evidence does not establish sweeping claims about hair types, heat effects, hot plates or wet-to-dry use. What it does establish is its combined straightener-and-dryer role, plus a maintenance routine and defined UK repair terms. Sensible evidence, frankly: less fireworks, more knowing where the cloth goes. That modestness is part of why we selected it. A device that combines two familiar grooming jobs has a broad, understandable appeal, while the monthly filter clean stops the whole affair becoming too smug. Even clever bathroom electronics must occasionally be dusted, like the rest of us.

There is a particular breed of wireless headphone buyer who has had enough of shiny plastic, fiddly cases and charging rituals that resemble caring for a very small electronic pet. The Bowers & Wilkins Px8 is aimed squarely at that person: an over-ear Bluetooth model with hybrid noise cancellation, ambient pass-through and materials that have clearly not been selected from the municipal recycling-bin colour chart. We think it earns a place as the more considered choice in a headphone shortlist. The Nappa leather detailing, aluminium arms and memory-foam earpads are not necessities, obviously. Neither is a nice fountain pen, a decent coat or buying tomatoes that do not taste faintly of disappointment. Still, the Px8 makes a coherent case for taking an everyday object a little more seriously. Practicality has not been forgotten in the pursuit of looking composed in an airport lounge. The supplied carry case, USB-C-to-3.5mm stereo jack cable and USB-C-to-USB-C cable cover wireless listening, USB-C audio and older wired connections without immediately requiring a cable-shop expedition. Wear detection adds another small bit of automatic housekeeping to a life already cluttered with notifications. The catch is pleasingly tangible: these weigh 320g without the case. That is not a catastrophic figure; it is simply a reminder that premium over-ear headphones are a deliberate object, rather than something you casually lose in a coat pocket. Buyers who want a substantial, well-appointed pair for travel and desk life have a very clear reason to look here. Anyone seeking near-invisible portability should not pretend this is their destiny.

A dog disappearing behind a hedge for ten seconds is perfectly normal. A dog disappearing through an open gate with the confidence of someone late for a train is less charming. The Tractive DOG 6 is aimed at that particular species of household anxiety: the one involving muddy paws, a patchy mobile signal and a lead that was apparently optional from the start. This black tracker is built for dogs weighing more than 4 kg and clips onto the collar. At 71 × 29 × 17 mm and 39 g, it is a fairly compact addition to the canine wardrobe, rather than a full-blown surveillance satellite dangling beside the tag. Its built-in SIM uses mobile networks to send location information to the Tractive app, where live GPS tracking, virtual fences and escape alerts live. The more interesting bit is that it is not solely for a missing-dog panic. DOG 6 also records activity and sleep, plus resting heart rate and resting respiratory rate, with health alerts for reported changes. We think that makes it a sensible complementary pick for owners who would rather have a broader picture of a dog’s routine than another app that exists only for catastrophe. Tractive is clear, however, that this is not a medical device and it cannot diagnose a condition. There is some pleasingly ordinary practical thought here, too. The tracker is IP68-rated and described as 100% waterproof, while battery life reaches up to 14 days with Power Saving Zones enabled, or up to 6 days without them. The catch arrives wearing a tiny tie and carrying a recurring invoice: a separate Tractive subscription is required. That is the price of the built-in SIM and mobile-network location data, but it means this is reassurance with paperwork attached.

The AeroPress Go exists for the point on a trip when the scenery is magnificent, the air is fresh, and the available coffee is a teaspoon of granules being bullied by lukewarm water. We think that is a perfectly reasonable moment to become annoyingly particular. This is the travel-focused AeroPress: an extra-small, all-in-one manual coffee maker kit aimed at hiking, camping and generally being away from the kitchen equipment that normally keeps civilisation ticking over. It is described as handling French press, pour-over and espresso-style coffee, rather than asking you to pack a different gadget for every mood. The appeal is not that it turns a rucksack into a speciality café; that would be a deeply unhelpful thing to imply. The useful bit is simpler. AeroPress Go gives coffee-minded travellers a compact route to a brewed cup in two minutes, with the listing positioning the result as less bitter and more flavourful. Our pick here is for people who accept that good travel coffee involves a tiny amount of ritual. There is manual brewing involved, obviously. But compared with resigning yourself to another sachet of beige sadness in a rented flat, that feels like a tolerable level of faff.

Most lighting is grimly upfront about its job: lamp, shade, plug, glow, collect dust. The Gingko Mini Smart Book Light has elected to become a tiny walnut-finish book instead, which is either a delightful bit of domestic theatre or proof that our homes are now negotiating with stationery. We think that is precisely its appeal. This is a portable, rechargeable light aimed at the person who does not merely want illumination in a small corner, but would prefer that corner to contain an object with a slightly better anecdote than “I got it because it was on offer”. It belongs on the shelf, desk or bedside table of somebody who has already made peace with owning at least one thing chiefly because it amused them. The selected version is Mini and Walnut, so restraint is part of the arrangement. This is not a grand declaration of interior design; it is a compact decorative interruption to the usual procession of black plastic, charging cables and things one keeps meaning to put away. The wooden finish makes the idea more coherent than a novelty object has any right to be. There is a little modern-world bookkeeping, naturally. The older Smart Book Light is supplied with a micro-USB charger, and the selected Mini listing also specifies rechargeable micro-USB charging. A cable standard from the era when every drawer contained twelve mystery leads has not vanished merely because the light has excellent shelf manners. Still, we chose this because it makes a strangely specific gift-panic or small-flat problem feel considered rather than cluttered.