Who writes this
I build WordPress plugins and write about the tools I actually use. Every review here is paid for out of my own pocket, and the section on what does not work is never skipped.
Worth knowing
Say the thing a reader would be annoyed to discover later. A caveat, a correction, or how the link below pays for the site.
Version 2 against the original
What changed
- USB-C charging replaces the old barrel plug
- The price went from $99 to $129
- Battery life fell from 11 days to 8 in my testing
What stayed the same
- The switches, and how quietly they type
- The layout, down to the function row
- Still no numpad, and still no plan for one
Get in touch
Write to hello@example.com. I answer within two working days.
Office hours
Tuesday to Thursday, 9 am to 1 pm Eastern. Calls by appointment only.
Elsewhere
Short notes between reviews, and the odd photo of a very messy desk.
Every tool on this page is one I pay for.
The full list, with what each one costs and what I would drop first.
Upcoming events
October 8, 2026
Portland, Oregon. A reading and open questions at Longhand Books, 7 pm.
November 12, 2026
Online. A one-hour workshop on writing reviews that name their limits.
January 21, 2027
Leeds, United Kingdom. A meetup for newsletter writers at Calder Street Library.
Questions people ask
Something has to be in daily use for at least a month before it gets written up. If it leaves the desk before then, that becomes the review.
Some links earn a commission. None of them change a verdict, and the section on what does not work is never shortened for a sponsor.
Yes. Reader suggestions decide roughly half of what gets covered here.
How a review gets written here
The same three steps every time, which is why two reviews on this site can be compared to each other.
Buy it and use it
At retail, for at least six weeks, on the work I would be doing anyway.
Measure the claims
With the same gear in the same room, so the numbers mean something next to each other.
Name who should skip it
If I cannot name that person, the review is not finished yet.
From the test bench
The desk at the end of a thirty-day test, before anything gets packed away.
How the work gets done
A month of daily use comes first
Nothing gets written up until it has been on the desk for four weeks. The notes from that month become the section on what does not work.
Every number names its conditions
Battery life, noise, and weight are measured the same way each time, and the method sits right next to the result.
Mentioned in
The Northfield Review
Margin Notes
Desk and Lamp
The Weekly Ledger
Common Type
The Sunday email
Every review from the week, one thing I stopped using, and nothing else.
Sent once a week, on Sunday morning. Unsubscribe in one click.
Latest
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The review kit, every pattern in order
Every pattern in the Osmium review kit, rendered in the order a review would use them.
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The block theme that ships no JavaScript
What I learned building a theme for people who write for a living: patterns beat CSS, the editor…
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Write the limits section first
What I learned building a theme for people who write for a living: patterns beat CSS, the editor…
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Six weeks with a one-time-purchase writing app
What I learned building a theme for people who write for a living: patterns beat CSS, the editor…
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Responsive styles landed. Here is what to delete.
What I learned building a theme for people who write for a living: patterns beat CSS, the editor…
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The sidebar is not dead, it is just honest now
What I learned building a theme for people who write for a living: patterns beat CSS, the editor…
Plans for readers and teams
Every plan includes the full archive and no display ads. Studio adds seats and invoices for teams that expense it.
Reader
$5
per month, or $50 a year
- Every review, in full
- The Sunday newsletter
- Comments on every post
- The full archive back to 2014
Supporter
$12
per month, or $120 a year
- Everything in Reader
- The monthly long test, a week early
- Raw test notes and spreadsheets
- A vote on what gets tested next
Studio
$40
per month, or $400 a year
- Everything in Supporter
- Three seats for your team
- Invoices with your company details
- Charts cleared for your own reports
Two ways to read
Both plans keep the site free of display ads. Switch or cancel from your account page at any time.
Reader
$5
per month, or $50 a year
- Every review, in full
- The Sunday newsletter
- Comments on every post
- The full archive back to 2014
Supporter
$12
per month, or $120 a year
- Everything in Reader
- The monthly long test, a week early
- Raw test notes and spreadsheets
- A vote on what gets tested next
Keep reading
What I do for other writers
Three services with a fixed scope, each with a price you know before we start.
Manuscript editing
Two full passes on up to 80,000 words, with notes you can act on. Four weeks from start to finish.
Review audits
I read your last ten reviews and mark every claim that needs a source, a number, or a limit.
Newsletter setup
A working newsletter in one week: platform, template, welcome email, and a plan for the first eight issues.
Follow along
New reviews go out here the morning they publish. Nothing automated, nothing reposted.
If a product is not worth a month of my time, it is not worth ten minutes of yours.
The first rule in the house style guide
18
Years publishing on the web
6
Weeks minimum before anything gets reviewed
0
Products sent to me for free
The details
A low-profile wireless keyboard built for long drafting sessions. It pairs with three devices and switches between them with one key.
- Eleven days of battery in daily use
- Bluetooth and a USB-C cable, both included
- 842 grams, measured on a kitchen scale
Around 99 dollars at full price. It drops by about a fifth twice a year, so there is rarely a reason to pay the full amount.
Who does the testing
Priya Raman
Editor, reads every draft twice
Daniel Osei
Tests keyboards, chairs, and desks
Clara Novak
Checks every number before it ships
Sam Whitfield
Writes the Sunday newsletter
Every other review told me what to buy. This one told me what would break first, and it did, in week five, exactly as written.
Rachel Moreno, reader since 2022
From readers
I bought two things this year because of a limits section, and returned neither. That is the whole review of the reviews.
Sam Okafor, reader since 2021
The only newsletter I read on the day it lands.
Jordan Lee, runs a two-person studio
How the site got here
2014
Started as a weekend notebook on WordPress plugins. About forty readers, most of them friends.
2017
Began buying every product at retail and publishing what did not work, not only what did.
2021
Launched the Sunday newsletter. It passed 10,000 subscribers in its second year.
2025
Dropped display ads for good. Readers now pay for the site directly, and that is the whole business.
How this is paid for
Some links here earn a commission when you buy through them. That never changes a verdict, and the section on what does not work is never shortened for anyone.
Products are bought at retail unless a review says otherwise, in which case it says so at the top rather than in a line at the bottom that nobody reads.