Hybrid Cars, Touchscreen Gloves, Micro-USB Cables. Deals, Updates and More

Next Week: Hybrid Cars We spent dozens of hours considering every hybrid car currently on sale and driving and living with the best of the bunch. The 2015 Toyota Prius Two is built for fuel efficiency with the second-best rating in the US of 50 miles per gallon. It has better fuel efficiency than other sedans, and that means savings from day one. —Andrew The Best Touchscreen Gloves After a month of testing the newest touchscreen gloves, we’re still recommending the Glider Gloves Winter for the third year running. While they’re not the warmest we tested, we still felt plenty warm waiting in the cold for 30 minutes. We've also used them while ice climbing and moving about 1,000 pounds of tree stumps without issue. The Best Micro-USB Cable Micro-USB cables provide charging power to basically every non-Apple digital device, and they’re used by everything from portable hard drives to smartphones to tablets to transfer data to and from your computer. After 35 hours of research and commissioning testing that was conducted by a former NASA JPL engineer, we recommend Monoprice’s 3-foot USB 2.0 A Male to Micro 5-pin Male 28/24AWG Cable w/ Ferrite Core (available in black or white) for most people. It charges devices and transfers data as fast as the standard allows and is built to last with quality internal components like tightly-braided wires, a spiral foil shield, and a backshell ground wire. What’s Interesting About Windows 10 Microsoft just had a big press event for Windows 10 where the company announced a bunch of new stuff, including a neat holographic augmented reality interface (!) and an 84-inch 4K screen with a computer built in. But here's what's really important to people running Windows computers (and phones) today: Windows is getting more frequent, free updates; it's going to work better across computers, laptops, and tablets; and there might even be a reason to get a Windows Phone soon. The Best Surround-Sound Speaker System If I was looking for an affordable, high-performance 5.1-channel home theater speaker system, I would opt for the ~$1,500 Aperion Audio's Intimus 5B Harmony SD system. I came to this conclusion after nearly 20 hours of research and nearly 50 hours of calibration, testing, and facilitating listening panels that pitted 10 complete surround sound systems against one another, two at a time, in a partial-blind single-elimination tournament. Inner Vision for the weekend of January 23, 2015 In this weekend’s edition of Inner Vision, get your sweat on while watching TV with the commercial break workout, conquer fear by making a game of it, and read 52 books recommended by some of the world’s leading thinkers. The Best Deals We Can Find Because we think we can make a small difference by being picky, here are some great deals on solid pieces of gear. Updates * We tested 12 cases for Amazon’s newest e-reader, the Kindle Voyage, and determined that OMOTON’s Kindle Voyage Smart Case Cover is the best choice. [Best Amazon Kindle Cases] * After testing four new shovels (on top of the 14 we tested last year), we still recommend the Ames True Temper Ergonomic Mountain Mover with the added Stout Backsaver handle for most people because it has the best mix of size and features. It allows your back to stay straighter while shoveling and thus reduces strain. Plus, it’s durable and lightweight. * We saw a lot of routers and 27-inch monitors at CES, and now our guides have the most promising and practical gear we spotted in each category. [Best Wi-Fi Router, Best Monitor] * We've updated our mouse guide with reports from some Logitech mouse owners who say they've experienced trouble with Mac OS X Yosemite. [Best Wireless Mouse] * We’ve had a chance to drive the new 2015 Toyota Camry and have added some impressions to our guide. There’s a lot to like about the new Camry, but a couple big sticking points remain. [Best Midsize Sedan] * Panasonic announced two cameras today, a $400 travel zoom, the ZS50, and a $600 mirrorless, the GF7. We'll be keeping an eye out for the first reviews of both. [Best Affordable Mirrorless Camera, Best Superzoom Camera] * We've added long-term testing notes to our wireless mouse and water bottles guides. * Canon has issued a product advisory for our favorite budget point-and-shoot, the 340 HS, following reports of the battery reading as dead even when it isn’t, and the camera powering off randomly when in use. Check the product advisory to see if you're eligible for the free inspection or replacement, and contact Canon at carecenter@cits.canon.com or 1-800-OK-CANON. [Best Cheap Camera]   Follow on Facebook Follow on Twitter Forward to a Friend Check out our sister siteThe Sweethome; it's a Wirecutter for house supplies and homewares. Notes We support the dozens of hours that go into our evaluations through a small kickback on purchases through our links. Here's how to support our writers and our work. For more on our ethics and how we work, read this. Help wanted. We have a number of open positions ranging from managing editor to researcher. [Jobs] The right tool for the right task.