Brandon Foster

Last summer, I watched my neighbor drain his pool in early September because the water was too cold. Meanwhile, my family was still swimming comfortably into November, thanks to a properly sized pool heat pump. That experience is what drove our team to test the best pool heat pumps for swimming season over the past … Read more

If your home has ceilings soaring past 10 feet, you already know the frustration of decorating a tree that looks like a child’s toy in the corner of your living room. Standard 7.5-foot trees disappear against vaulted ceilings, and that cheap 6-footer from the big box store makes a grand two-story foyer feel underwhelming during … Read more

A flocked artificial Christmas tree is a regular faux evergreen coated with a white powder or spray that mimics freshly fallen snow, creating a winter-wonderland look the moment you bring it home. I have been testing and reviewing artificial trees for our team for over six holiday seasons, and flocked styles consistently rank as the … Read more

I have been setting up pre-lit Christmas trees in our home for the past decade. I have spent weekends fluffing branches, untangling light strings, and replacing burned-out sections. After more than 60 hours of hands-on testing across brands like Balsam Hill, National Tree Company, Puleo International, and Best Choice Products, I can tell you which … Read more

If you live somewhere the winters feel long and grey, you already know how the lack of sun sneaks into your mood. I have lived in the Pacific Northwest for nine winters, and every November I felt that familiar heaviness settle in. After my own rough stretch two years ago, I bought my first 10,000 … Read more

Setting up a home office that actually helps you think clearly is harder than it looks. A monitor, a desk chair, and a laptop only get you so far. The missing piece for most remote workers is a writing surface large enough to plan a project, sketch an idea, or work through a problem without … Read more

I spent the last three months testing eight portable touchscreen monitors across coffee shops, hotel rooms, and my home office desk. I dragged them through real productivity work: spreadsheets, code reviews, video calls, and dozens of browser tabs. What I found surprised me. A great portable touchscreen monitor transforms a cramped laptop screen into a … Read more

I spent the last two months living with eight different smart projectors, hauling them between my living room, bedroom, and backyard to see which ones actually deliver on the promise of streaming built in. The best smart projectors with streaming built in do something most projectors can’t: they boot up, connect to Wi-Fi, and let … Read more

I remember the first time I missed a mule deer at 680 yards because my rangefinder gave me a reading that was off by 40 yards. That was the day I started taking rangefinder selection seriously, and over the past three years I have put 14 different laser rangefinders through their paces on steel targets … Read more

Choosing the best hunting rangefinders for bow hunters in is one of the most important gear decisions you’ll make this season. I’ve spent the past three months testing eight different laser rangefinders in real treestand and spot-and-stalk situations, ranging from 15-yard shots under oaks to 85-yard downhill angles in steep creek bottoms. The difference between … Read more