Air Fryers, Toothbrushes and Gadgets Worth Buying

By Sidra Salman · November 4, 2026

Walk into any big-box store right now and the gadget wall will try to sell you a different life: crispier fries, cleaner teeth, floors that clean themselves. Some of those promises hold up. Most do not, and the difference is rarely the price tag. It is how often you will actually use the thing, and whether a cheaper version does the same job just as well.

I spent this week comparing current 2026 buying guides, reviewer test results, and maker specs for the small gadgets people ask me about most. Then I applied one simple test: if you use it at least three times a week for a year, what does each use really cost? A $200 gadget used 150 times costs about $1.33 per use. That math tells you what is worth your money.

The cost-per-use test I use before I buy anything

Before the picks, here is the test in full, because you can run it on any gadget in about a minute. First, be honest about frequency. Not the frequency you wish for, but the frequency your last three months support. Second, add the running costs: replacement brush heads, filters, bags, or batteries. Third, divide the total first-year cost by your realistic number of uses. If the result still feels fair for what it saves you in time or effort, buy it. If it only feels fair when you imagine a version of yourself who meal-preps every Sunday and flosses twice a day, skip it for now.

1. A dual-basket air fryer: the rare kitchen gadget that earns its counter space

Air fryers stopped being a novelty years ago, but the dual-basket design is what finally made them practical for families. You can cook chicken in one drawer and vegetables in the other, at different temperatures, and have both finish at the same time. Single-basket models are fine for one or two people. For a household, the second basket is the feature that turns an air fryer from an occasional snack maker into a weeknight workhorse.

Price is where shoppers get tripped up. A recent 2026 pricing guide puts the sweet spot for a well-built air fryer between $80 and $200, and notes that moving from a single basket to a dual basket typically adds $50 to $100. That matches what reviewer tests show: the well-reviewed Ninja Foodi dual-drawer models sit in that range, with a 9.5-litre total capacity across two independent drawers, while budget single-basket models from Cosori and Chefman cover smaller households for less. Most air fryers run between 800 and 1,800 watts no matter what they cost, so wattage alone is a poor way to judge one.

What about the health claim? Philips says its air fryers can use up to 90 percent less fat than traditional deep frying, based on its own internal testing. Treat that as a maker claim, not an independent result, but hot-air cooking does need far less oil than a pot of frying oil, and the results for frozen foods and weeknight vegetables are genuinely crisp. Where air fryers fall short is wet batters and large roasts that will not fit.

Verdict: worth it if you cook at home three or more nights a week. Buy the size for your household, not the biggest one on sale, and check that the baskets and trays are dishwasher-safe before you pay extra for smart features you will never open.

2. An electric toothbrush: small price, daily payoff, but skip the $300 models

This is the gadget where the cheapest good option beats the flagship most of the time. Dentists quoted in 2026 guides keep coming back to the same three features: a pressure sensor so you stop pressing too hard, a two-minute timer with 30-second quadrant prompts, and a head that actually fits your mouth. Brand matters less than those three features, and a Cochrane review covering 51 studies found electric brushes reduced plaque more than manual brushing, with oscillating-rotating heads showing an edge over sonic heads in longer studies.

In the United States, that points to two sensible starting points. The Philips Sonicare 4100, often listed around $50, covers the essentials: a two-minute timer, a pressure sensor, and roughly two weeks of battery. The Oral-B Pro 1000, also often around $50, uses the round oscillating head that reviewers rank highly for plaque removal. At the other end, the Oral-B iO Series 9 was listed at $279.99 and the Philips Sonicare 9900 Prestige at $329.96 in a November 3 price check. Those premium brushes add app tracking, extra modes, and nicer charging cases. They do not add a fundamentally different clean.

Do the cost-per-use math here and the case for a mid-range brush is strong. Twice a day, every day, is 730 uses a year. Even at $100, that is about 14 cents per use before replacement heads, which you should budget for every three months. A $300 brush with an app you stop opening after week two is not three times cleaner. It is three times the price for the same two minutes.

Verdict: worth it at $40 to $100. Spend more only if you genuinely want the app, the travel case, or a specific sensitive mode, and never skip the pressure sensor to save $10.

3. A robot vacuum: worth it only if your floors and habits fit it

Robot vacuums are the most divisive gadget on this list, because whether one works depends less on suction specs than on your home. In a mostly hard-floor home with few cables on the ground and a regular cleaning schedule, a robot that runs while you are out is a real time saver. In a home with thick rugs, pet toys everywhere, and charging cables across the floor, the same robot spends its life stuck, and you spend your time rescuing it.

If you do buy one, mapping matters more than raw suction numbers. A model that learns your rooms and lets you set no-go zones will clean reliably, while a cheaper bump-and-spin model will miss spots. Self-emptying bases are worth considering, because they fix the main reason people stop using robot vacuums: the small dustbin fills up fast, especially with pets.

Verdict: worth it for hard floors and tidy-ish homes, and for pet owners who run it daily. Skip it if your floors are mostly thick carpet, or if tidying before each run feels like a chore in itself.

4. A temperature-control kettle: a small luxury that pays off for tea and coffee drinkers

This one sounds frivolous until you drink tea or pour-over coffee every day. Different teas taste better at different temperatures, and a kettle with presets takes the guesswork out. Good models with six presets were listed around $110 in a late-September 2026 small-kitchen roundup. For a daily drinker, that is about 15 to 30 cents per use in its first year, and far less after that. Just check capacity, because a small kettle that needs refilling twice for a family pot will annoy you daily.

Verdict: worth it for daily tea and pour-over drinkers. Skip it if you boil water once a day for instant coffee.

5. A wireless meat thermometer: the $80 gadget that saves $80 dinners

A wireless thermometer, such as the well-reviewed MEATER Plus listed around $80, sits in the oven or grill and sends readings to your phone, so you stop opening the door and losing heat. It solves a specific expensive problem: overcooked roasts and holiday meals that go wrong in ways you cannot fix after the fact. A $50 wired version is accurate and cheaper, but the wireless version earns its price the first time it saves a roast you spent real money on. If you rarely cook large cuts, the wired version is the smarter buy.

Verdict: worth it if you roast or grill weekly. Skip it if most of your cooking is pasta, stir-fry, and takeout.

What I would skip in 2026

Three categories rarely survive the cost-per-use test. First, single-task novelty appliances you will use twice a year. Second, premium versions of simple tools where the extra money buys an app, not a better result. Third, smart features that need a separate account for a job a button already does. If the smart version costs $100 more and the plain version does the same job, buy the plain version.

A quick comparison before you shop

Gadget	Typical US price	Realistic use	First-year cost per use (rough)
Dual-basket air fryer	$130–$200	4x per week	About $0.65–$1.00
Electric toothbrush	$40–$100	2x per day	About $0.06–$0.14 plus heads
Robot vacuum	$200–$500	3x per week	About $1.30–$3.20 plus bags and filters
Temperature kettle	About $110	1–2x per day	About $0.15–$0.30
Wireless thermometer	About $80	Weekly	About $1.50

The takeaway

Buy gadgets that solve a problem you already have, at least three times a week. A dual-basket air fryer and a sensibly priced electric toothbrush pass that test for most households, while a robot vacuum, a temperature kettle, and a wireless thermometer pass it for specific households. For more screen and sound gear, see our smart TV buying guide, our gaming monitor explainer, and our streaming device comparison.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a dual-basket air fryer really better than a single basket?

For households of three or more, yes, because you can cook two foods at different settings and finish them together. For one or two people, a single 5- to 6-quart basket is usually enough and takes up less counter space.

How much should I spend on an electric toothbrush?

Most people should spend $40 to $100 and make sure the brush has a pressure sensor and a two-minute timer. Premium models add apps and extra modes, but reviewers and dentists agree the core clean does not change dramatically above that range.

Do air fryers actually save money on energy?

They can, because a small air fryer heats up faster and cooks smaller batches than a full oven, and Philips claims up to 70 percent energy savings versus a conventional oven under its own test conditions. Your actual saving depends on what you cook, how often, and your local electricity rates.

When is a gadget not worth it, even on sale?

When you cannot name a realistic weekly use for it, or when the running costs, extra apps, and storage space outweigh the job it does. A sale price lowers the first cost, but it does not fix a gadget you will not use.

About the Author

Sidra Salman is the founder of Electronic Media, where she writes practical, research-backed guides on consumer electronics, gadgets and home entertainment tech. Every guide is tested and written in plain English for a US audience.