By Kate Harvey
Content Manager | Pou Whakahaere Ihirangi
1. This Sonos speaker
Sonos One (Gen 2) ($369)
This isn’t a slate on Sonos – the brand makes some of the top speakers we’ve tested. But we flat out hated this home WiFi model and have labelled it a “Don’t Buy”. As well as having poor sound, we found it difficult to use.
You don’t have to spend a lot to get a good speaker – some that we love cost under $100. Get Dad a good one by checking our speaker test results.
2. This capsule coffee machine
Nescafe Dolce Gusto Piccolo XS ($99)
You might want to introduce Dad to the capsule coffee machine life – but this machine isn’t the way to do it. It’s another product we’ve labelled “Don’t Buy”. The coffee it makes taste terrible.
There are other cheap coffee machines – including some from Kmart’s Anko and The Warehouse’s Living & Co brands – that we rate higher in our test results.
3. These Beats headphones
Beats by Dr Dre Flex ($120)
We’ve got test results for 138 pairs of headphones on our website at the moment, including nine we’ve given our “Don’t Buy” label to. One of them is these wireless Beats by Dr Dre earbuds that we think have terrible sound and are uncomfortable.
You’ll see some cheaper wireless headphones are a better buy once you start comparing.
4. A Lenovo tablet
Lenovo tablets might be cheap – all the ones we’ve tested are under $600 and one is just $140. But when you look at our tablet test results, all the Lenovo ones are sitting at the bottom with the worst scores.
You can use our test results for 45 tablets to find similarly priced ones from other brands that will be a lot nicer to use.
5. This blender from The Warehouse
Living & Co 700W Stainless Steel Blender LBL700S ($65)
Dad might be excited about whipping up frozen drinks in this blender come summer but he’s not going to have an easy time. It’s not great at crushing ice and we found a whole heap of other things not to like about it – it’s heavy, tricky to clean in a sink and moves around on the bench when you’re using it. With an overall score of just 59%, it’s the worst of the 21 blenders we’ve tested.
End unfair gift card expiry dates
Gift cards are a great option for the last-minute shopper, but unfair expiry dates mean that retailers can wind up reaping the rewards.
