I’ve been ordering things on Amazon for 12 years, and I had almost 150 orders last year alone so since we are all staying home right now with online ordering at an all time high I wanted to show you my top 10 most useful products I’ve ever ordered from Amazon.
This list is in order from cheapest to most expensive, but all of these items are less than $100 at the time of this video, and I will link to all of these items in the description below for your convenience.
Spigen Ultra Hybrid iPhone Case + Screen Protector
Let’s start with my phone (no, not the actual phone). I’m talking about my favorite phone case of all time: the Spigen Ultra Hybrid. I’ve used this model for all of my iPhones I’ve ever owned. I love it because it’s a perfect blend of protection and minimalism. It has just enough protection without making the phone bulky, and it has all the precise cutouts so it doesn’t affect the new cameras on the iPhone 11 Pro in any way. It’s made of thermoplastic polyurethane which gives it elasticity and transparency so you can still appreciate the actual phone design. The buttons are easy to press with the case on, and it has just enough of a lip around the edge to protect the screen if you lay it face down. I also use this tempered glass screen protector which is totally worth it as you can see. This literally happened the other day. I dropped my phone, and luckily the screen protector did its job so this case and screen protector is my $15 protection package for my iPhone 11 Pro.
Smart Light Bulbs
If you haven’t upgraded to smart light bulbs yet, check out these. The brand is called Above Lights, and they’re super affordable at around $20 for a 2-pack and the set up is very quick and easy. These have WiFi built-in to them along with the ability to work with Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and Siri so you can control them through voice commands. They also have their own free app so you can control these lights from your phone, and since they are dimmable and can change colors these are great for offices or bedrooms or in my case I like to use these for the background of my videos. The app has different “scenes” and can be set to automatically change colors continuously which is cool so if you want an affordable easy-to-use smart light bulb, check these out.
AeroPress
Next is my favorite device for making a consistent cup of coffee. This is called an AeroPress, and if you’re even just a little bit of a coffee nerd you need this. It’s only $30, and you can use it to make 1-3 cups of rich smooth coffee without any bitterness in about one minute. It’s great because you can play around with the different variables like the water temperature, amount of coffee, type of grind, how long you steep it, and I even use an AeroPress recipe app to take this to the next level and it’s amazing. Many people love the AeroPress over other coffee making methods because the AeroPress is pretty minimalist – it’s small and easy to clean. It comes with hundreds of micro filters that leave no grit in your cup unlike a French Press. And it’s great for traveling too. Stick around to the end of the video to find out the best way to get awesome coffee like this online.
Minimalist Wallet
Next is something that I use every day. This is my minimalist front pocket wallet. I absolutely hate bulky wallets, and I also hate having things in my back pocket so I ended up getting this wallet 2 years go when I got my Tesla Model 3 because that car doesn’t require a key so the only things I carry now are my phone and wallet. I love this wallet because it’s slim, compact, and easily fits in my front pocket. The only thing to note is it doesn’t really have a place to store coins, but that’s a non issue for me. This wallet has multiple slots that are designed to comfortably fit up to 8 cards, and the money clip holds up to 10 bills pretty well which is enough for my needs since I don’t carry a lot of cash on me. It’s made of genuine leather and it has held up really well so far. It also has RFID blocking to protect cards that have chips on them. Definitely my favorite wallet I’ve ever owned.
Portable iPhone Charger
This is my portable iPhone charger that I got years ago, and unfortunately this particular model is not available on Amazon anymore, but I found a nearly identical one for around $35 that has great reviews. This allows me to charge my phone wherever I am – whether I’m on a plane or hiking in Europe or camping at a music festival – this has definitely come in handy many times. It has a built in lightning connector so it can charge my iPhone without me having to carry around a cable which is one of its best features. But it also has a USB port to charge any phone if you do have the cable with you. It has a button to let you know the charge remaining, and to recharge it you just plug it into an outlet with the built in prongs that fold out and in so it’s a great all in one portable charger for your phone, and I definitely couldn’t travel without it.
Google Chromecast
This next gadget has been my favorite gift to give people during the holidays. It’s the $35 Google Chromecast, and it basically turns any HDTV into a smart TV and allows you to stream videos wirelessly to your TV using your phone, tablet, or computer. The way it works is you plug it into an available HDMI port on your TV, then use the app to connect it to your Wifi network, then open a video streaming app and you should see a Chromecast icon in the video player that you can tap on and it will send the streaming video to your TV like magic. It’s an affordable way to essentially add video streaming capabilities to any HDTV and lets you control it from your phone with whatever streaming app you’re using. It also has beautiful wallpaper slideshows when no video is streaming which is nice.
White Noise Machine
Did you know high quality sleep is crucial for your immune system? Right now more than ever it’s important to get a good night’s sleep, and this sound machine has been a game changer for me and my wife. We used to turn on a fan at night just for the noise, but that dried out the air so we got this dedicated white noise machine that has ten fan sounds and ten ambient noise variations which helps drown out noises and allows us to not only fall sleep quicker but stay asleep more easily without having random noises wake us up throughout the night. It has a volume control so you can set the perfect level for your liking. For us it’s like a pavlovian response, as soon as we turn it on our brains know it’s time for sleep.
Logitech MX Ergo
If you’re like me and you’re doing most of your work at a computer, then ergonomics are very important. This is the Logitech MX Ergo wireless trackball mouse that has helped me avoid the typical wrist pain that comes from using a regular mouse. It gets its name from its ergonomic design including an adjustable hinge that allows you to customize the trackball angle for a more natural, comfortable hand position. It’s compatible with Mac and Windows, and easily connects via Bluetooth. It has a rechargeable battery with up to 70 days of power on a single charge. It’s currently around $75, but if you want to save some money you can get their older M570 model that has less features but it’s only around $30. I own both, and either one is a great choice.
Instant Pot
Up next is my Instant Pot, and this is my favorite kitchen gadget because I’m not that great at cooking, and this lets me cook some pretty delicious meals while keeping it very simple and pretty much hands off. Seriously if you don’t like cooking or you’re not good at it this will be your best friend. It’s an extremely versatile multi-cooker that combines 7 appliances in one: pressure cooker, slow cooker, rice cooker, steamer, sauté pan, yogurt maker and warmer. It has one-touch Smart Programs for cooking all types of different meals on autopilot. And the cleanup is super easy because the stainless steel container is dishwasher safe. You pair this with a pressure cooking recipe book and you’re golden.
SanDisk SSD
Finally this is my SanDisk SSD, and it is a perfect companion to anyone who wants fast storage on the go. This version can store 500GB and it connects via USB-C so it has extremely fast read and write speeds which allows me to store and edit 4K videos directly off of it using my MacBook Pro or my iMac. I’m constantly editing videos whether it’s a video for YouTube or a wedding film for my videography business, and since my Mac has a max of 500GB internal storage, I practically doubled my storage with this SSD for less than $100. It’s lightweight and is very durable. Highly recommend if you have a laptop with a USB-C port.