All posts tagged: Shopping

Best Smart Chess Boards (2026): Chessnut, Millennium

Best Smart Chess Boards (2026): Chessnut, Millennium

Published by skeptic

Playing chess can be challenging, fun, and at times frustrating. Garry Kasparov called the game “mental torture.” With virtually limitless possibilities, chess offers unparalleled depth, and you could easily fill a library with books on how to play it. The internet has opened up a wealth of potential competitors, and smart chess boards enable you to play anyone online or off, not to mention dabble in a variety of chess programs. I’ve been testing smart chess boards for the past month or so, with the help of my chess-mad eldest, and these are my top picks. The Smart Chess Boards I Recommend Most Chessnut Pro Electronic Chessboard For my opening gambit, I’m recommending the Chessnut Pro. With a classic wooden design, the Chessnut Pro feels like a regular board, but there are smarts hidden within. The beechwood pieces are beautifully weighted, an important but often underestimated feature. They feel great in hand, and the set includes a pair of extra Queens. This is a full tournament-size board (55 cm or 21.7 inches), so you’ll need …

Best Portable Monitors (2026): Add a Second Screen I’ve Tested

Best Portable Monitors (2026): Add a Second Screen I’ve Tested

Published by skeptic

Being away from the office means working on my laptop—and with that comes productivity slipping away into oblivion. The problem, for me at least, is the screen, or rather, the lack of them. A portable monitor solves this dilemma handily, working just like an external monitor setup does in the office, but with mobility also in mind. While larger portable monitors (especially multi-panel ones) may require a dedicated power connection, most can use your laptop’s USB port for all the juice they need. The portable monitor category is a very large one, occupied by both name-brand producers of laptops and desktop monitors as well as plenty of companies you’ve never heard of. For this buying guide, I evaluated 20 portable monitors from a wide range of manufacturers that represent price points ranging from $70 to nearly $700. I’m splitting my top recommendations across four major categories, with runners-up available for most of them. The Best Overall Portable Monitor Arzopa Z3FC Portable Monitor If you are simply looking for a single extra screen to have alongside …

‘Top Chef’ Winner Rhoda Magbitang Unveils Auberge Summer Dinner Series

‘Top Chef’ Winner Rhoda Magbitang Unveils Auberge Summer Dinner Series

Published by Daniella Wilson

If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, The Hollywood Reporter may receive an affiliate commission. On the heels of her Top Chef victory, Chef Rhoda Magbitang heads home to Hawaii’s Big Island — this time, however, she’s accompanied by a few special guests. Magbitang, the first female Executive Chef at Mauna Lani‘s highly acclaimed Canoehouse, returns to the Big Island’s oceanfront resort for her latest endeavor: a culinary residency alongside fellow season 23 chefs Sieger Bayer, Oscar Diaz and Brittany Cochran. The first-of-its-kind collaboration kicks off a series of intimate dinners, hosted by Chef Rhoda herself, at select Auberge properties between June 2026 and early 2027. Last week, The Hollywood Reporter got a front row seat to the four chefs’ multi-course masterpiece at Auberge’s Big Island property before it continues throughout the summer season. The intentionally curated menu spotlights each chef’s distinct perspective in tandem with the crème de la crème of local ingredients. Mauna Lani’s Surf Shack, backdrop for Top Chef-curated Summer Dinner Series. Courtesy of …

The Best USB-C Cables (2026): for Smartphones, Tablets, and Laptops

The Best USB-C Cables (2026): for Smartphones, Tablets, and Laptops

Published by skeptic

Other USB-C Cables I’ve Tested There are so many cables out there, and plenty of solid options did not make the cut as a top choice. Here are a few honorable mentions I’ve tested and liked. Statik MagStack Pro for $25: I quite like the automatic magnetic coiling this cable features, as it stays neat, and the colors could be handy if you want something that stands out (I tested the bright orange version). But performance is distinctly average at 100W for charging and 480 Mbps for data transfer. It is 6.6 feet and comes with a two-year warranty. Baseus 2-in-1 Charging Cable for $25: I love the idea of a single cable that splits into two, allowing you to charge both devices from one USB-C port, but I found this cable’s performance to be unpredictable. You can get up to 140 watts for a single device, but when you split it between two devices, the charging rate drops well below that as a combined total. It’ll work fine if you use it for overnight …

Digital Notebook Throwdown (2026): Kindle Scribe, ReMarkable Paper Pure

Digital Notebook Throwdown (2026): Kindle Scribe, ReMarkable Paper Pure

Published by skeptic

I also like that the Kindle Scribe stylus has a button on it that switches to highlight mode, which is especially convenient as a reader if you wanted to easily switch from underlining or note-taking to highlighting a passage. While the ReMarkable is more accurate and has an impressive paper feel to it, I actually think either Scribe model feels a little more comfortable and convenient to use, especially since you don’t need to pay extra for the eraser point. But the slimmer second-generation Scribe is slightly more comfortable to write with, at least for my hands. Reading Winner: Both Kindle Scribes Photograph: Nena Farell If you’re looking at these devices more as a reader and less as a note-taker, then you’ll want to pick a Kindle Scribe. While you can read books on any ReMarkable device, whether it’s the Paper Pure or another model, you have to manually download the files onto your ReMarkable through the ReMarkable desktop or mobile app. That means you need to have the PDF or ePUB file version of …

How to Pack for a Smash-Hit Summer Trip, with Terrence O’Connor

How to Pack for a Smash-Hit Summer Trip, with Terrence O’Connor

Published by Jenni Sidey

Welcome to What to Wear Now, GQ’s recurring recap of the need-to-know menswear hitting stores imminently—plus our shrewdest insights into pulling it off right. Back in February, Terrence O’Connor says, he found out he was going to the Grammys about 15 minutes before the car arrived to pick him up. “Luckily, I had my Saint Laurent suit,” he says, laughing. “I ended up being on the broadcast so much that night.” That’s not unusual for the creative director, whose behind-the-scenes work with pop phenoms—like the lo-fi “What Was That” music video he directed for Lorde, or the visual strategy he cooked up for Haim’s I Quit—tends to ricochet across the internet at supersonic speed. “I’m always on the cusp of potentially having to go to the awards show or the fashion show or what have you,” O’Connor says. “So you kind of have to be prepared to serve if you need to.” When you’re that in demand, you quickly learn how to pack on demand. In the summer months, O’Connor sometimes finds himself away from …

Best iPad Accessories (2026): Keyboards, Cases, Styli

Best iPad Accessories (2026): Keyboards, Cases, Styli

Published by skeptic

Other iPad Accessories We Like iPad accessories are endless. Here are some other options that are perfectly fine, though some have issues that knock them down a rung. Zagg Pro Keys 2 Photograph: Brenda Stolyar Zagg Pro Keys 2 Keyboard Case for $150: Zagg’s case (7/10, WIRED Review) isn’t as elegant as Logitech’s system, but you can connect it via Bluetooth to two different devices. That means you’ll need to recharge the keyboard case via USB-C. It’s more protective, thanks to the folio cover, and it’s a detachable system with a case that’s separate from the slate. But it’s also a lot bulkier. The second-generation version doesn’t come with a trackpad either, so you’ll have to supply your own mouse. This one is only available for the iPad Pro (M4), but you can still purchase the first-gen version for the ninth-gen iPad, iPad Air (including the 11-inch iPad Air with M2), and 11-inch iPad Pro, as well as the 12.9-inch iPad Pro. ESR Rebound Case for $120: When I was gifted the iPad Pro (M4) …

Best Laptops For College Students (2026): MacBooks and Beyond

Best Laptops For College Students (2026): MacBooks and Beyond

Published by skeptic

College laptops don’t have to be embarrassing. Nor do they have to be overly expensive. There are a lot of great laptops for college students that combine long battery life, easy portability, and the performance needed for everyday coursework in a great design. I’ve been reviewing laptops for over a decade and have tested hundreds over the years, and if someone asked me what to buy, these are the options I’d suggest. Be sure to check out our other computing guides, including the Best Laptops, Best Budget Laptops, Best MacBooks, Best Windows Laptops, Best Gaming Laptops, Best Chromebooks, and Best Laptop Bags. The Best Overall College Laptop The MacBook Air is my choice for best overall laptop. It’s the one almost everyone should buy. But college students have different needs—and in most cases, different budgets. It needs to be affordable, but ideally it should also be lightweight and easy to carry around. The MacBook Neo fits the bill perfectly. It’s only 2.7 pounds and starts at just $599. It also has a smaller display, which …

16 Best Sandals for Men in 2026, According to GQ

16 Best Sandals for Men in 2026, According to GQ

Published by Jenni Sidey

No matter where your preferences land on the Toes Out spectrum, the best sandals for men will persuade you to embrace a barely-there summer slip-on. Why? Simple: we’re living through a golden age of sandals. You know, the most seasonally-appropriate, sweat-staving, feet-saving, oft-dismissed footwear in the game. Short memories will say otherwise, but sandals have a checkered past in menswear. They’ve been portmanteau’d, disparaged in song lyrics, and associated with many a polarizing figure, but that’s unfortunate for both our dispositions and our outfit prospects because we shouldn’t fear the sandal. We should embrace the sandal. And thankfully, that particular Overton Window—sandals for dudes—has increased substantially in the past few years, expanding well past the narrow corridor between slides and thongs. But with a surging category comes a cascade of options, and the Sea of Sandals is vast and varied and, at times, hard to navigate—which is why we’ve done an exhaustive survey of what’s out there. So we put all of our feet together and looked at as many sandals as we could, tested …

6 Simple Ways to Pull Off Stripes for Summer 2026

6 Simple Ways to Pull Off Stripes for Summer 2026

Published by Jenni Sidey

As patterns go, stripes aren’t exactly avant-garde—in fact, they’re one of the oldest accents in the book. If you were to step out in, say, a striped Oxford shirt, a Euro-leaning Breton tee, a preppy repp tie, or a classic seersucker suit, absolutely nobody would be able to accuse you of trying to make any kind of radical fashion statement. And yet, many guys live in fear of these fine lines. Perhaps it’s because a stripe naturally draws the eye. Or because they’ve heard that horizontal stripes elongate the wrong areas. (To which we give you Kurt Cobain.) Whatever the reason, plenty of wardrobes remain surprisingly stripe-averse, which is a shame, because stripes are one of the easiest ways to add colour, personality, and visual interest to an outfit without ever venturing too far outside your comfort zone. And while sure, stripes may only come in one shape, they do come in all kinds of sizes. Thin stripes, fat stripes, vertical stripes, lateral stripes. And right now, they’re showing up on all kinds of garments, …