Gear of The Year 2025

Stihl’s new RZA 760 Zero Turn Rider (ZTR) is the most remarkable electric mower we’ve ever tested—a professional-level machine built for daily use. Its expense is beyond what a typical homeowner might be willing to spend, but it is a window of what we can expect to see for residential mowers in a couple of years. With a 60-inch deck and a top speed of 16 mph, the RZA 760 can cover a lot of ground quickly. In testing, we were able to mow just over 4.5 acres in an hour and 45 minutes. This test area can take over 4 hours with a lawn tractor and about 3 hours with a typical 54-inch zero turn. Stihl claims a run time of up to 8 hours, in certain conditions, and that doesn’t seem unreasonable to us—we hit about 7 hours mowing our test yard four times. Speed isn’t the only thing we liked about it, though. Paired with an app, the machine lets you locate it via GPS, and set up a geofence that will disable it if moves outside the fence—in the event it is stolen. The app also tracks historic mowing sessions and total time and area mowed, so you can keep up with maintenance like sharpening the blades at regular intervals. The RZA 760 ZTR also features Stihl’s deluxe suspension seat, which lets you dial in your weight to take the guesswork out of setting it up properly. We were disappointed to have to send this mower back.

While we may tire of new smart products, Moen’s Flo Smart Water Monitor got our attention. Installed in your water supply line where it enters your house, it learns your usage patterns, tracking daily water consumption, noting high usage and low usage periods. Using this data, it can alert you to potential water leaks, burst pipes, or even if a hose has been left on. The Flo Smart Water Monitor has the potential to turn what could be a disaster into an inconvenience. Aside from the damage that can be done, it can also help save you money on your bill. We had no idea how much water we used washing dishes, taking showers, or flushing a toilet. Using the Flo, paired with the Moen app, you can monitor your consumption, set daily usage goals, and develop strategies to reduce the volume of water you use.

A year ago, the internet lit up when Yeti released a  cast iron skillet as a collaboration with boutique pan-maker Butter Pat Industries. It seemed a strange—and overpriced—thing for a cooler company to launch, but it was a hint that Yeti is set to deliver so much more than just frosty beverages. Fast forward 12 months, Butter Pat is now Yeti, and the prices have dropped—though Yeti’s offerings are still in the premium price range. Well, no. You could get a Lodge skillet for 1/10th of the price and be perfectly happy.

But the Yeti is a pure joy to use. It comes pre-seasoned with an exceptionally smooth finish right out of the box. Unlike a pan from Stargazer—another artisan cast iron company whose pans we’ve tested—the Yeti is shiny smooth not only on the cooking surface but all around the rest of the pan. That comes from a unique casting process Yeti uses that allows them to deliver a finer finish. And that seasoning performs: You’re typically cautioned to use extra oil and start with something like sautéed vegetables to break in a new pan. I jumped right to scrambled eggs with just the tiniest pat of butter, and they slid around the cooking surface effortlessly. Some folks will find the handle a little too short to comfortably lift the 6lb 10oz pan with one hand, but the helper tab makes it much easier to maneuver and the edges of the handle are rolled over so there’s no painful pressure.

EcoFlow’s Smart Home Panel 2, paired with the Delta Pro Ultra, is one of our favorite products tested this year. When connected to your home’s electrical service panel, the Smart Home Panel 2 supplies power to your critical circuits—up to 12, for one unit—and, in the event of a power outage, switches from the grid to supplying power from an attached power station. The panel connects to your home’s network via WiFi, and you can view its status and change its settings from anywhere. Additional expansion batteries can be added to increase its capacity from 6 to 30kWh for each Smart Home Panel 2—and three panels can be installed to cover all of your home’s circuits, with a capacity of up to 90kWh. Depending on the home, that could be several days of backup. For those with variable electric rates, the panel can be programmed to charge off the grid during low-rate hours, and then feed power-hungry circuits from the batteries during high-rate periods. To top it all off, the Delta Pro Ultra can also be charged via solar panels.

SpotOn has modernized electric fence systems, doing away with underground wires or transmitters that have limited control over boundary shapes. It made setting up a boundary in our yard, leveraging GPS and a smartphone, simpler than ever. We found it incredibly easy to define an area boundary, test, and edit it. As with any pet containment system, training is key, and that time needs to be put in up front. The SpotOn app allows you to change fence and collar settings and will pinpoint your dog’s location, giving you an alert if the pooch is on the loose. And in the event of an escape, SpotOn will allow the dog to return and cross the boundary without a correction.

Plenty of gadgets are intended to help sharpen your knives—some gimmicky, some legit. Unfortunately, many of them can be complicated, with multiple components. The Horl 2 consists of just two pieces that don’t require any assembly. The first one is simply a strong magnet that holds the knife at one of two common angles for kitchen knives. The second is a cylinder with abrasive surfaces on each end. Roll the cylinder with one end against the blade to sharpen the length of the knife. It’s simple, it works, and it’s a legitimate shortcut to a sharp edge. The kit comes with 400- and 1,000-grit abrasive discs—we recommend getting the optional 3,000- and 6,000-grit discs for the sharpest edge possible.

When we first heard about the Repaint Tray, we knew we had to try it. If you’ve ever been painting late into the night and knew you’d need to continue in the morning, you’ll appreciate the Repaint Tray. There is no need to clean everything up when you’ll be painting again in 10 or 12 hours. We used to wrap the roller in plastic wrap, and then press a layer of plastic wrap into the paint to keep it from drying out—which worked okay, but it was messy and wasted paint. Plus, paint around the edges still dried out. The silicone roller tray liner and cover keep the paint fresh and ready for your next session. You can even pop the roller off the handle and drop it in the tray. Cleanup is easier too—either wash it out right away or pour out the excess paint, let the paint on the liner dry, and peel it right off. Either way, the paint releases from the silicone easily.

Yoder’s YS640S Competition is one of the heaviest-duty pellet grills we’ve tested. Its versatility will appeal to grillers of all stripes, as well as the smoker crowd. We were impressed with the wide temperature range and the ability to cook over live fire, and we couldn’t find any limitations to what it could cook. While the max set temperature on the controller is 600 degrees Fahrenheit, cooking over the grill’s firebox yields a much higher sear temp. And yet we could set the controller at 225 degrees to smoke a massive brisket. Yoder leverages the FireBoard app so you can monitor cooking sessions using the two included meat probes, set timers and alerts, view temperature fluctuations across the session, and review previously saved sessions. The YS640S’s body is made in the USA, with large 8-inch flat-free tires. Despite it weighing more than 400 pounds, those large wheels make it easy to roll the unit around the patio, garage, or shed.

We originally got the M18 Inflator because we had to deflate tires to access a muddy logging road far from any air compressor, and reinflate them when we returned to pavement. But over the past year it has proven useful in many other situations. For example, when picking up a load of lumber, we could add air on the spot to the helper springs on the truck to adjust for the weight. It uses the same battery as other Milwaukee M18 tools, so unlike other inflators, we’re not tied to a typical 12-volt cigarette lighter socket. The M18 Inflator proved useful at home, too, and we found ourselves pulling it out for all kinds of jobs instead of going to the garage, uncoiling the air hose, and firing up the compressor.

There are plenty of wireless security cameras out there that use solar panels to charge. The Eufycam S330 Solar Wireless Security Camera has the panel built in—you have only one component to mount, and no connections to worry about keeping watertight. Plus, Eufycam’s subscription-free service made choosing the S330 a no-brainer. The company claims the cameras need only two hours of sunlight a day, and we haven’t had any issues with the three we’ve been testing in a wooded area for over two months—the batteries haven’t dipped below 90 percent. That battery life will be affected by how frequently the cameras are triggered—more frequent triggers means more battery used. Eufy’s app is easy to set up and lets you access the cameras, review recorded events, and adjust activity areas, motion sensitivity, and alerts. Why we love it: one up-front cost, no subscription fees, no recharging cameras, and, ultimately, peace of mind.

The track saw revolution is picking up speed, transforming woodworking and carpentry much the way cordless drills have. Diablo (a Freud brand) is answering the call for top-notch blades for these saws with the introduction of a new line designed to deliver clean cuts and maximize battery life through smooth running and a lack of friction. We tested two—a fine-finish version for wood-based materials, with an alternate top-bevel tooth grind; and one for synthetic materials like vinyl flooring and PVC, with a triple-chip tooth grind. Both blades feature teeth fronted with high-density carbide and yield splinter-free cuts. Even running the blades on a saw and track that have some wear and tear, we were amazed to produce edges that look like they had been run over a jointer. The corners of the sawn parts were sharp and square, and the edges were straight and remarkably smooth.

The best circular saw won’t cut the mustard, let alone framing lumber, if you don’t put a decent blade on it. We tested DeWalt’s unusual new blade in an old-school 15-amp sidewinder circular saw and were pleased with its performance. Crosscuts at 90 degrees in framing lumber were sure and steady, as were full-depth crosscuts in 4 x 6 pressure treated. The blade and saw also aced 45-degree cuts in the pressure treated. We pushed the saw and blade hard, making cut after cut to the point that we were sure both would get good and hot. But the blade remained cool. DeWalt attributes that to the plentiful ventilation slots. We were amazed to see how much metal is removed for venting. The blade is reasonably aggressive, with an 18-degree hook angle, but it’s not crazy either. You would have to try hard to overfeed a saw with this blade on it. As extra insurance, DeWalt equipped the blade with a substantial anti-kickback shoulder. For a framing blade, it delivers a reasonably smooth cut and tracks straight and predictably. The blade’s anti-stick coating should help its longevity, as should the high-density carbide teeth.

Klein Tools is famous for equipping power-line workers and electricians, so it makes sense to get into the step-drill business. Electricians have loved these drill bits since they were introduced as the Unibit in the late 1970s. Electricians and all of us have found the multi-diameter bits to be particularly valuable for their ability to quickly put a clean, precisely shaped, and burr-free hole in sheet-metal boxes and thicker steel shapes such as square tubing. We tried out this bit set, making holes up to 1 inch in diameter in steel ranging from 16-gauge to 1/8-inch thick. Lubricated with the cutting oil packed with the bits, each bit cut a hole quickly and efficiently, using both an impact driver and a cordless drill. With both power tools, the three-bit set reliably makes holes from 3/16 inch to 11/8 inch.

If you can integrate your hand screwdriver and impact driver, you’ve just taken a step forward to simplifying your tool kit. That’s exactly what the Ult multi-bit driver is designed to do. Clipped into the Ult’s handle are six double-ended screwdriver bits that fit into the screwdriver’s chuck or that of an impact driver. Go from screwdriver to impact driver and back again in seconds. We tried out the tool, driving and removing screws, by hand and power, making use of various bit geometries in the process. The bits stand up to the abuse of an impact driver, and the screwdriver handle appears to be tough enough to withstand even two-handed turning force.

We used the newest version of the famous Dustbuster to suck up sawdust, wood shavings, and a blend of wood-hickory pellet fuel for grills. Despite the 2.4-pound power tool having only 8 volts to offer, it pulled these materials in so quickly that it would fill its dust cup in just a few seconds. If it does all that, then ordinary household dust, breakfast cereal, and food crumbs are no match. To empty the dust cup, hold the nozzle and twist the handle counterclockwise to unlock the two parts. Remove the air filter and dump out the captured debris. The filter is washable, but basic day-to-day cleaning is easy: Just tap it against the side of a trash can to release the dust built up on its surface.

Do you like cleaning up dust and having it blow back at you? We didn’t think so. Dust is unhealthy to breathe, and cleaning it up is a waste of time if having it settle on the floor and surrounding surfaces can be avoided. This SDS masonry bit, dust-removal accessory sleeve, and fitting are impressive for the amount of dust they grab. In the process, they contribute mightily to a cleaner, healthier, and more productive work area. It’s hard to say exactly how much dust the setup captures. In our tests boring holes vertically through the solid webbing of concrete blocks, we’d say probably 90 percent or a little more. The three-part system works this way: A standard cross-point SDS masonry bit has two faces milled away, producing a flat-sided bit with two rounded edges. A steel sleeve fits closely to the bit, yet the bit can still spin freely. Attached to the sleeve is a plastic fitting to hook up a shop vacuum. Install the bit and adapter into an SDS rotary hammer as you normally would, but without masonry dust billowing around as you go.

One reason the Rapid Rafter is such a great tool is that it was developed by a carpenter with 40 years of experience. This U.S.-made tool consists of two identical plastic rafter squares hinged together. Why would you need that? Good question. Answer: It permits you to rapidly mark both faces and an edge of a piece of framing lumber or two faces of a 4 x 4. The design also permits you to rest a torpedo level on the square’s spine, for increased accuracy in marking rafter plumb cuts. And when you unfold the square, you have a 15-inch-long straightedge. To us, that’s a remarkable amount of versatility. Like other rafter squares, it can be used to do typical common and hip rafter layout, mark parallel lines along an edge, and mark off angles.

This 9-inch-diameter fan kept us cool in the workshop, and we used it in other places too—on a treadmill to combat sweat, and on the patio to keep mosquitoes at bay. The all-plastic fan has a head that rotates 360 degrees and turns on the base 360 degrees. And about that base: A strong built-in clamp lets you fasten it to boards and ladders, while four powerful magnets allow you to hang it off metal studs, steel duct, or an I-beam. The fan will run for five hours on its high-speed setting and up to 12 hours on low speed. Its built-in battery can be recharged using the included USB-A to USB-C cable.

We get to test a lot of tools here, and there are always the latest versions of various tools, so it’s rare to actually miss having a particular one around. However, the ESAB Renegade Volt is one we’ve missed ever since it had to go back. We found it to be one of the most significant developments in welders in recent years. It’s powered by four 60-volt 12Ah DeWalt Flexvolt batteries, so you’re not tied to an outlet or the availability of 240-volt service. You also don’t need a truck to take it with you. At just over 50 pounds it’s not light, but it is portable enough to carry out to the woods to repair broken equipment. We burned through 10 welding rods and used up just over a quarter of the battery, and in that time got completely comfortable laying down clean beads.

Lasko’s Super Fan Max is an affordable solution to quickly ventilate or dry wet areas. With three speeds and three blowing angles, it’s easy to direct the amount of air where you want it. To cover larger areas, the fan includes an outlet so you can daisy-chain as many as three fans with their 10-foot cords. We measured air speed on the Super Fan Max’s three settings at 38, 40, and 44 mph—which translates to a top volume of 542 CFM (cubic feet per minute). The affordable price, versatile air direction, durable housing, and air volume make the Super Fan Max a great choice for drying wet carpets, ventilating odors or fumes, and cooling large spaces.

This is the best precision driver set we’ve tested, and we’ve tested some good ones. This little tool kit succeeded for several reasons, one of which is the variety of bits it provides (60). An accessory extension shaft is included to complement the slide-out extension shaft in the handle—and a ratchet wrench is tucked in, too. The wrench accepts ¼-inch hex shaft bits. It also succeeded for its build quality, which is surprisingly robust, given the tools’ small size. We used it to drive and remove full-size wood screws (numbers 8 and 10), as well as some machine screws that are so small you need a magnifying glass to see what type of slot they have in their head. It’s a lot of value packed inside a durable and well-designed case that provides a clear view of the tools and bits and a secure hold on them.

Brunt really got things right on the Marin Comp Toe Work Boot. It’s comfortable right out of the box, with absolutely zero break-in period. The company has somehow managed to make the thick leather soft and forgiving, but rugged enough for working a construction site. The composite safety toe seemed light enough that we rarely noticed its presence—until we dropped something on it. Moc-toe boots often feature a comfortable, soft, airy sole material that wears quickly on job sites. Brunt uses this type of material, but with a denser, longer-wearing material covering the bottom of the sole. The Marin Comp Toe is electrical hazard–rated and waterproof, and the sole is slip- and oil-resistant. I wore them nearly every day for over six months with no complaints. They’re my new favorite boots.