We have two outdoor speakers hung on opposite ends of the patio. They integrate with our indoor speakers so that we have seamless, whole-home audio. For that, we require strong, fast internet, and this NETGEAR AC2200 Mesh WiFi Extender helps do the trick.

Our habit of losing things is well known. A caring individual gifted us with two Tile Pro Sport Tracker devices. These Tile devices use a Bluetooth connection to communicate with smartphones that have the Tile app. With a single tap of the app, an alarm on the device rings.

The Wemo Mini Smart Plug pairs with the Wemo app on our phone that allows us to control the lights from anywhere. Even better is the integration with Google Home. We can say, “Okay Google, turn on the kitchen lights”, and that happens.

We’re gigantic fans of @Chromecast Audio. It supports whole home audio, integrates with @madebygoogle Home devices and plays well with @Spotify. And, it costs only $35 per device.

Count us as contented customers. We enjoy these Sony WH1000XM2 Noise Cancelling Headphones and would buy them again.

We purchased this Luminoodle USB Bias Lighting. The 118-inch strand comes with an adhesive strip, which fits around this 42-inch TV. The USB port of the TV provides all the necessary power.

Of all the tech gadgets suggested here, this one might win the award for least sexy, but this MAXOAK 6-Port External Battery Power Bank is our favorite gadget that we've acquired this year.

If you are getting married soon, or just want a solid Bluetooth speaker, we gentlemanly recommend this Anker 20W Premium Stereo Bluetooth Portable Speaker. Thanks, Amanda and Kyle!

We don’t even have a SmartWatch, yet MOTA is releasing a SmartRing. Geez, technology, slow down! Let us catch up. I guess we’re already married to our iPhone; this just makes our union official. source: Mota.com

We quite enjoy Top Chef. It’s wholesome, fun reality television. We like the competition. The food intrigues us. Tom Colicchio is just the right amount of curmudgeon. And, boy, do the chefs employ some zany techniques. Recently, while catching up on a past season, we witnessed one chef prepare the most deliciously perfect steak. It had a strong but shallow sear and was evenly pink from edge to glorious edge. It was medium rare bliss. And, it captivated us. For years, we’ve chased this—beef’s Holy Grail. We’ve read and read. We’ve practiced and practiced. We cooked plenty of fine steak. Never did we ever make a perfect one. The Top Chef contestant called his dish “steak sous vide.” We assumed that was French for steak “cooked way better than any bum like you ever could.” But, no. We researched it....

We live in exciting times. Our houses have become smart. Lightbulbs. Outlets. Doorbells. Smoke detectors. All smart. Robots vacuum our homes, and we can unlock deadbolts with our phones. Welcome to the future. The innovation that we most enjoy is perhaps the WiFi thermostat. Until recently, thermostats have been boring: Lame City, USA. Now, they are exciting. We can control them from anywhere. They know the five-day weather forecast. They talk. One even listens, which—you know—is the key to any lasting relationship. We recently installed a Honeywell WiFi Smart Thermostat with Voice Control for our master bedroom suite. Although not particularly handy, we proved handy enough. We removed the old thermostat, took a photo of its wiring, and drew a diagram of what wires were connected in what places. We mounted the new thermostat and reconnected the wires. Not everything...

Earbuds, man. We go through earbuds like paper towels. We lose them at an astonishing rate. So, we buy budget-friendly ones, and then they fail because, well, they’re cheap. We own about five pairs that work only in one ear. A first-world problem, yes. But, a problem nonetheless. We’ve tried many brands. If they’re (1) less than $10 and (2) on Amazon.com or behind the CVS counter, we bet we’ve bought them and lost them. You can call us discount earbud aficionados. Scratch that, you could’ve called us discount earbud aficionados. Not anymore. We’ve found our match. We’re settling down. Consider these ears taken. Get yourself some Panasonic RPHJE120K In-Ear Headphones. They deliver clean, rich sound. They fit comfortably and come with adjustable earpads. They withstand punishment without busting. They cost only $8.29 a pair. Read that last sentence again....

Oh the gadgets, we want all of the gadgets. But, is there anything more frustrating than the breakdown of one component of an otherwise viable piece of technology? In the office, we have an iPhone Speaker Dock. One day, the dock quit working. We tried unsuccessfully to fix it. It played FM radio, but please, we Spotify. It had an auxiliary input jack, but that required removing the case to plug in the phone. Inconvenient. The device wasn’t junk. But, it wasn’t much use either. We solved the problem like we solve most problems: Amazon.com. We bought a HomeSpot NFC-Enabled Bluetooth Audio Receiver. It’s a little magic box that lets you stream music to any stereo with an auxiliary input jack. Setup is simple. It takes, literally, 30 seconds. And, truly remarkable, we have since experienced not a hiccup. It...

We used to have a fine, ordinary coffeemaker. It was a 12 cup. It was programmable. It even looked nice—brushed metal. But, we only used it on weekends. Mornings before work, the process just seemed like a hassle. Cleaning the filter. Grinding the beans. Waiting for it to brew. Yes, we’re soft, especially in the morning, especially until we’ve had our coffee. The Keurig revolution is well upon America. We’re late because we resisted. We thought it was wasteful. We thought it was expensive. We coveted the idea of grinding our own beans. But then, because our workplace served dreadful coffee, we secured a Keurig K10 MINI Plus for the office. That contraption made work better. It brewed a strong, rousing cup of coffee. Yeah, the coffee costs more per cup—considerably more—but it tasted extraordinary. This tale unfolds predictably. We...

We fancy ourselves renaissance gentlemen. Our interests vary. They span the spectrum from gardening to gadgets, baking to basketball. But, as intellectually diverse as we may (or may not) be, we tend to obsess.  At any given time, we’re fascinated by something. Right now, it’s sound. Wireless speakers exist in a crowded market. Lots of brands. Lots of models. Lots of price points. Rarely does a unit aesthetically amaze us. That was until we stumbled upon the Wren Sound V5. We revere good design, and the V5 is exquisite. It’s clean. It’s real. It doesn’t try too hard to get noticed. Music delights us. We want it to saturate our home.  When we were young, we understood louder to be better. With maturity has come appreciation for range, depth and precision. The V5 is functionally simple yet truly powerful. It...

Welcome to the future. Progress marches. Innovation blossoms. Bold people search for ingenious solutions to everyday problems. Our thermostats learn. Robots vacuum our homes. And, now, we don’t even need keys because we can open the door with our iPhone. The Kwikset Kevo is a deadbolt. It comes with regular keys and can be unlocked like any deadbolt. But, that’s not why someone spends $219.00 on the Kevo. No, they buy it—the forerunning product in a new market—because it allows you to unlock your door via the magic of Bluetooth technology. And, it works. Installation was uneventful and took about an hour.  Afterwards, we setup the Kevo iPhone app and configured our “eKey.” When we approach the door from the outside, it senses us. And, when we touch the lock, it opens. For those without iPhones, the Kevo comes with...

When your cell phone starts randomly dialing people, it’s time to upgrade. Otherwise, you submit yourself to an awkward, possibly ruinous, game of calling roulette. How many exes can your pocket ring up in one afternoon? Some questions are best left unanswered. Facing this crisis, we averted disaster by upgrading to the iPhone 5s. It’s awesome. Here’s why: 1. Gold and White Finish We aren’t big into bling. Gold, though, clearly wins the battle of iPhone 5s finishes. It provides a warm compliment to the white. It gets noticed without being glitzy. 2. The Camera Maintaining G@H demands constant vigilance. When we stumble upon something interesting, we must share it with you fine folks. The iPhone 5s’ camera with its 8 mb sensor and ƒ/2.2 aperture eviscerates our iPhone 4. Photos are clearer. Colors are more dynamic. 3. The Fingerprint...

Attention, gentlemen. Your mother, bless her, owned a KitchenAid Stand Mixer. She used it for cookies and cupcakes. You don’t bake cookies or cupcakes, so you might see no need to make the investment. Don’t be daft. A KitchenAid Stand Mixer is the fundamental kitchen appliance.  It does what you’d expect: mixes, stirs, beats, and kneads. But, what distinguishes it is how it does what it does. This machine is a draft horse. It’s sturdy, brawny, and industrious. It glides through basic tasks like mixing pancake batter and beating eggs. It dominates tough jobs like kneading pizza dough. And, it does this without catching fire. A claim some other brands cannot make. Equally impressive, the KitchenAid Stand Mixer lets you harness its power for non-mixing activities. We use the meat grinder attachment to make fresh hamburger and sausage. Want to...

Perhaps you saw cheap rice cookers in the Black Friday adverts. Perhaps you cannot fathom how one rice cooker could cost tenfold that of another rice cooker. Perhaps you should check yourself before you wreck yourself. Value depends on a diversity of factors only one of which is price. For example, if you pay $125 for a rice cooker, that’s fine under one condition: it’s the best damn rice cooker ever in the history of all things. Meet the Zojirushi Micom Rice Cooker. It happens to be the best damn rice cooker ever in the history of all things. The Zojirushi Micom is a microcomputer designed with a sole function. It cooks rice. And, it does so perfectly every time. Never does the rice burn. Never does it turn to mush. The Zojirushi Micom employs a technology known as, “fuzzy...

This is a block of wood that you slide your iPhone into at night while you sleep. It looks like an alarm clock. But, it isn’t. It doesn’t have a radio or a snooze button. It doesn’t even have speakers. Again, it is a block of wood, and it is awesome. You can buy it from uncommongoods.com. We at G@H have not used this product and cannot speak to its quality or effectiveness

Tailgating is the sport of champions. Well, it’s the sport of people who enjoy eating and drinking and watching others engage in athletic endeavors. Regardless, any worthwhile tailgate needs a grill. And, while we enjoy the taste that charcoal provides, we’d rather not risk our cars combusting midgame. So, allow us to suggest the Grill2Go x200 from Char-Broil. We at G@H have not used this product and cannot speak to its quality or effectiveness

We don’t like karaoke.  Actually, we don't care for bar karaoke. We enjoy it when we’re well lubricated, surrounded exclusively by friends, and in the safety of our own basement. So, we do like this Singing Machine Bluetooth Karaoke Machine for the iPad.  Might we suggest “Brandy” by Looking Glass—what a fine song that would be. We at G@H have not used this product and cannot speak to its quality or effectiveness

A bread maker, though not essential, is a handy appliance for the modern bachelor. Carb count all you want.  Follow Dr. Atkins over a cliff. We at G@H love bread and refuse to live without it. Accordingly, we own a bread maker. We own the Zojirushi Home Bakery Virtuoso, the best damn bread machine that money can buy. We sense your skepticism. We get it. Your Aunt Patty had a bread maker. That alone shouldn’t disqualify the appliance from a gentleman’s kitchen. She had an oven, right? A microwave? A toaster? Aunt Patty may not be “of our generation,” but wisdom comes with experience. She grasped the age-old truth that nothing beats a freshly baked loaf. Unlike its single-paddled competitors, the Zojirushi has dual blades. It produces bread in classic rectangular loaves, not strange square loaves. The dual paddles prevent...

A gentleman can dream.  Here’s what is currently captivating us at G@H. Fifty years ago, stereos were large and heavy, so manufacturers designed consoles to house them. Styled right, these consoles served as prized furniture. Innovation, however, shrank electronics. Semiconductors replaced vacuum tubes. And, the once revered stereo console, well, it vanished. Good ideas never die, though. They hibernate. Eventually, the beast reawakens and emerges from its cave. The trend returns. With the R7 High Fidelity Radiogram by Ruark Audio, your stereo can decorate the room while simultaneously shaking it. Its spindle legs and walnut veneer cabinet radiate a mid-century modern vibe. Yet, it has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capability. In addition to CDs and traditional radio, it plays MP3s and internet radio. The R7’s clean, vintage design blended with the fruits of modern technology titillates us greatly. We at G@H...

We at G@H frown upon snobbery in most situations. Cheap wine may stain our teeth but does not offend our palates. An ice-cold Hamm's goes down easy in the heat of summer. At the ballpark, we would choose a foot-long hotdog swimming in chili cheese over fresh Maine lobster. When it comes to coffee, though, we discriminate. We do not insist our beans be scavenged from elephant dung. But, we do demand taste. We like coffee to kick. We crave bold flavor and captivating aroma. Sometimes, our caffeinated destiny seems beyond our control. We can feel chained to the bland offerings of our places of employment. We try making due . We marinate that hot beverage posing as coffee in non-dairy creamer and Splenda. Alas, we merely put lipstick on a pig. Although the meek may inherent the earth someday, the...

Every gentleman needs a hobby, though we at G@H have accumulated a few leisurely pursuits too many. We play fantasy football and beer-league softball. We grow vegetables. We run. We cook. We travel. We sample new bands and exotic liquors. We hike. We pickle things. We are jacks of many trades, masters of, well, maybe, one. Our recreational gluttony mixed with GentlemanAtHome.com permits us to hone a skill: photography. See, ours is a visual racket. Without pictures, we’d be sentenced to a solitary confinement of words. Can you imagine us clumsily describing William Howard Taft’s portrait on our fireplace mantel or boasting, without verification, of our succulent banana peppers? Awkward. Photography animates this website. We shoot exclusively with Canon. Ours is modest equipment, so we lust after the Canon EOS 5D Mark III. If you lug around a DSLR, you...

We at G@H want to take a minute to discuss endangered species.  The Black Rhino. The Tree Kangaroo.  The Giant Panda.  Home video captured on a VHS tape.  These videos contain all of the triumphs and blunders that shaped our youth from our first steps to the junior high talent show where we showcased our MC Hammer dance moves.  And, yes, we deserved to win. Our home movies also serve as a chronology of those well-intended but ill-advised hairstyles of the 80s and 90’s.  A rat tail, really Mike? The sum of our past experience molds us into the gentlemen we are today, and we must preserve these images. That is why we recommend transferring old family videos from videotape to digital using the Diamond VC500 One Touch Video Capture Device.  This little gadget does a lot. And, it couldn’t...

At his best, a gentleman defends virtue and fights wickedness. We at G@H, therefore, must intervene. If you have a landline telephone, you are getting bilked. Swindled. Duped. Hoodwinked. The time for rebellion has come. Oppressors beware. Let us present two avenues to liberty. First, you can use your cell phone exclusively. This will save you money in a world of unlimited cell minutes. But, that might be untenable. You may have poor cell reception at home or need the ability to fax. You may simply prefer the familiar heft of a cordless phone. Enter the second option: the Ooma Telo. The Telo from Ooma is an impressive little black box. Although it might not survive a plane crash, it will allow you to call across the United States for free. It operates via your internet connection and plugs into...

A British inventor created the light switch in 1884. Since then, technological innovation has exploded (sometimes literally). Mankind invented the television, the airplane, the laser and the computer. We went to the moon and cured polio. Yet, the light switch remains virtually the same. If you live in North America, up is on, down is off, and that’s just how things have always been. Some people may question the need for change. Why meddle with a good thing? Well, as Sam Seaborn on West Wing preached, “'Cause it's next. 'Cause we came out of the cave, and we looked over the hill and we saw fire; and we crossed the ocean and we pioneered the west, and we took to the sky. The history of man is hung on a timeline of exploration and this is what's next.” So what...

A gentleman can dream.  Here's what is currently captivating us at G@H. McIntosh’s first receiver since 1993 is a beauty.  With a 200 Watts-Per-Channel amplifier, we would love to hook a turntable or iPod into this monster and blast the photos off the wall.  It surely would register on the Richter scale.  For more information, click here. We at G@H have not used this product and cannot speak to its quality or effectiveness