Editor’s note: Many readers are curious about what the editors of SSPAI actually buy in their daily lives. Through “The Editors’ New Gadgets,” we hope to introduce the novel products that editorial team members have been using recently, and let them talk about how these new gadgets actually perform.
Content disclosure: If an installment of “New Gadgets” contains commercial content, the corresponding entry will be marked “Advertisement”; if marked “Manufacturer-provided review unit,” the product was not purchased at the editor’s own expense, but the brand had no involvement in the content. The editors’ sharing is for reference only; everyone is welcome to share their experience with the same products in the comments, whether positive or negative—we welcome candor. Please follow the SSPAI Community Rules when posting, express yourself civilly, and chat happily.
@老麦: Strange earphone cases
- Reference price: 49 yuan each
Consumption downgrading really is a major trend, but there are still some little mood-lifting trinkets I really want to buy. Recently I picked up two earphone cases—let me show you.
The pill-bottle earphone case—this one even used a pre-order mechanism: a 20-yuan deposit, a wait of over a month, then another 29 yuan to get the finished product. The impulse to order came from feeling that everyone is in a rough state these days and we all need to take our medicine appropriately; the pill bottle is a metaphor—I might be sick, don’t mess with me. The build quality in hand is passable: silicone material, quite thick, with some deformation, but the creativity outweighs the details.
Opening it feels even more like taking out earphones as if taking out pills, implying it can heal trauma. It’s all emotional value anyway—I might get tired of it after a few days, but I enjoyed the process.
The second one is a climbing-hold-inspired earphone case. Climbing is quite popular, and it symbolizes sports and health. The key point is that the render was very pretty, plus this metal chain—48 yuan is not bad. This one is purely 3D printed, also a soft material, feels good in hand, and gaps are unavoidable.
In actual use, it’s still not suitable for hanging directly on a bag—the lid opens easily and the earphones fall out. Holding it in hand is fine; a colleague said it looks like a rice ball. Lately I’ve been really into buying these little emotional products—I wonder what everyone thinks.
@路中南: Long-handled steel-wire pot brush
- Reference price: 12 yuan
I wonder if any SSPAI readers had the experience as kids of being scolded by elders for not scrubbing the pot clean. I was certainly told off about it from childhood all the way up. Cooking in a Chinese iron wok really is fragrant—the Maillard reaction when the seasoning hits the pan is enticing enough—but cleaning the charred black marks left on the bottom and walls of the pot is a real headache. Over time, the grease and scorch marks build up thicker and thicker, and ordinary plastic pot brushes (yes, I’m talking about you, IKEA!) basically scratch the surface; if you go straight to sandpaper, it easily destroys the hard-won oil film you’ve built up and you have to re-season the wok. Chinese iron woks really are great fun while you’re using them and a head-scratcher when it’s time to clean up.
What makes people even more reluctant to scrub pots is actually the traditional steel wool. I don’t know how many SSPAI readers, like me, have cut their fingers on loose fine steel wires while washing pots—those tiny cuts, once they get dish soap and raw water in them, feel quite something. A while back I was recommended this long-handled steel-wire pot scrubber on social media, and in the spirit of trying anything once, I searched for one on Pinduoduo. When the package arrived and I opened it, it was heavy; the brush head was tightly wrapped, and once unwrapped it revealed a dense cluster of hard steel wires—a rather fierce-looking thing.
Mind the blind spots around the rivets—a few scrubs and it comes off, so effortless
In testing, its cleaning efficiency really didn’t disappoint me. Not just ordinary food residue—those stubborn black grime and burnt seasoning marks clinging to the iron wok can be scraped clean with a bit of force along the bottom. For the curves of the pot bottom or corner dead zones, just use the front tip of the brush head; for large areas of the pot wall, turn the brush head sideways and press it against the surface for a larger cleaning area. Besides uncoated iron woks, I’ve also found it very effective against the white marks left by cooking protein in a rice cooker’s inner pot. Of course, I must warn: don’t use this on non-stick pans, enameled pots, or other coated cookware…
So far the most effortless cleaning workflow I’ve figured out: first use this steel-wire brush to quickly remove the large scorch marks and residue on the pot bottom; once it looks about right to the eye, rinse with water and switch to an ordinary dish sponge with a bit of dish soap for a final pass. Once scrubbing pots is no longer a dreaded chore, my motivation to cook at home has actually been revived. Cooking at home more not only saves a lot on takeout, but the seasoning and oil also suit my own taste better.
But the shortcomings of a ten-plus-yuan item show up just as directly. After about two weeks of use, one fine steel wire at the edge of the brush head got bent and popped out. I tried bending it back and wrapping it tight with pliers, but this hard steel wire is very springy and simply can’t be corrected back into shape. Although it doesn’t affect overall use for now, every time I reach for it or shake off water after washing, I have to watch out for that protruding wire scratching my hand, and I’m also skeptical about its long-term durability. If you have other kitchen cleaning gadgets that work well for you, feel free to recommend them to me in the comments.
@西鸽: “Diatom mud” computer desk mat
- Reference price: 35 yuan
I am a person with no privacy.
A few days ago at home I wanted to go to the bathroom and walked over while watching short videos. There was a bit of water at the bathroom door; I slipped a little but didn’t fall. After sitting on the toilet, I finished the video and the next ad that came up was for a diatom mud foot mat, whose features are anti-slip and quick-drying and so on.
I was in the bathroom with the door closed, yet it felt like it wasn’t closed. I had been secretly filmed by the app.
Then my mind wandered: the PU leather desk mat on my computer desk had been in use for over a year. I’d put it there originally because in hot weather sweaty hands on the wooden desktop felt uncomfortable. No problems in use, but grease stains from eating at the desk, 502 glue from assembling 3D-printed toys, and knife scratches from opening packages had all become irreversible marks.
So why not see if there’s a diatom mud desk mat?
They say people are most inspired when sitting on the toilet. I immediately opened Taobao and searched—there really are diatom mud desk mats—and bought one.
This isn’t a blurry photo—it’s printed blurry to begin with
The quality really is bad: the bottom is PVC, the top is soft cloth—you can imagine it really can absorb water, and might also be very hard to dry, and it feels unpleasant to put your hand on. It also has a smell of boiled corn, unnatural, like some bad chemical technology.
I looked it up: diatom mud surfaces are porous and shed crumbs easily, so they’re inherently unsuitable for desk mats, and if the quality is poor, long-term contact isn’t good for your skin either. What e-commerce sites now sell as diatom mud desk mats is basically this kind of cloth surface (or maybe with a little diatom mud laid on top?), purely the same kind of thing as spending ten yuan on a “graphene” product.
Glass vs PU leather vs “diatom mud”
I originally really liked cork desk mats, which give both a rough and a fine feel: rough in that it feels rough to the touch, fine in that it doesn’t dig into your hand and feels quite comfortable—except that in summer with sweaty hands it gets dirty easily and is hard to clean, and after half a year you want to replace it. Later I used a PU leather desk mat: no smell, feels okay to the touch, but grease stains are very obvious and it’s hard to clean. Photovoltaic glass mouse pads (which is just glass—“photovoltaic” is a marketing buzzword) are also quite good: cool to the touch, textured, the mouse glides smoothly on it, and glass can simply be washed with water. A few years ago large sheets of photovoltaic glass seemed expensive, so I only bought a small piece specifically as a mouse pad; now even buying a large piece as a desk mat probably doesn’t cost much. So in the end I’ll probably have to go back to glass material.
New gadgets don’t always have to be recommendations—here’s a look at the IQ tax I paid.
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