Best gadget you have bought in the last year: what and why?

[Jackson79]

Not the most expensive. The one with the best return on what you paid for it. The thing you use more than you expected to or that solved a problem you had forgotten was a problem.

Could be something high-tech or something completely mundane. The metric is genuine usefulness per pound spent.

[ShadowPilot]

A decent pair of wireless earphones I bought reluctantly after my wired ones finally died. I held out on wireless for years for reasons I now understand were irrational. The quality is excellent and the convenience has changed how I listen to things throughout the day.

[Ava]

A small USB-C hub for my laptop. Nine ports for about 25 pounds. All the dongles and adapters I was carrying individually are gone. I genuinely wonder what I was doing with my time before.

[AEWNoah32]

An e-ink reading device. I was a phone-reader for years and accepted the eye strain and distraction as the cost of always having something to read. The dedicated reader changed my reading habits completely.