How Our Readers Made Wirecutter Better in October 2020

Thanks for all the feedback, questions, and suggestions you shared with us this October. As we get closer to the end of this year, we hope you’re all taking care of yourselves however you can. If there’s something we can do to take some of the pressure off, let us know.

Good questions

Why has preordering a PS5 been so difficult? As many of us know, successfully placing a preorder for a PlayStation 5 has been all but impossible. Several readers have asked us why it has been so tough to reserve one of these new consoles.

Multiple factors have been contributing to the ongoing scarcity, and the issue extends beyond Sony and the PS5. Demand for anything even tangentially related to gaming has been extremely high this year, while production capacity has been competitive and limited.

As Wirecutter editor Arthur Gies explains, “Every gaming-oriented PC component, from power supplies to motherboards to graphics cards, has seen a massive increase in demand. Current-generation consoles like the Xbox One, PS4, and Switch (especially the Switch) have also been frequently difficult to find at reasonable prices.

“There was already pent-up demand for new consoles—it’s been seven years, people are ready for something new. Add to that pretty cutting-edge tech in the new systems, combined with lots of competition in manufacturing between consoles, video cards, and new phones, and there’s a functional limit on how many systems everybody can make.”

It may be tough to get ahold of any of the new models this holiday season. We’ll do what we can to help. Our roundup of the best game consoles has links to several preorder pages for the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X and Series S at major retailers to help people monitor availability.

If you’re still deciding which model you want, we’ve put together our thoughts on choosing the right Xbox and choosing the right PS5. If you see an opportunity to pick up one of these consoles at a fair price (which we’d consider to be anything that matches or is lower than the manufacturer’s suggested retail price), be ready to jump on that chance.

What’s the best way to apply popcorn seasoning to coat kernels evenly? Commenter p5harma asked us about this on our roundup of the best ways to make popcorn. We’ve had great success shaking on seasonings using a big Tupperware container with a lid. For liquid seasonings, a spray bottle can help you achieve a more even coating on the popped kernels than pouring would. Timing and technique can vary based on your chosen popping method, though, and the comments section of that blog post is full of great tips for different circumstances, plus a range of tantalizing topping suggestions.

Coverage you inspired

Advice on third-party earbud tips: Over the years, we’ve gotten a lot of questions about how to make earbuds fit more comfortably. Our headphones expert, senior staff writer Lauren Dragan, recently tested a range of third-party earbud tips, evaluating everything from fit and shape to material and feel to noise isolation and impact on sound quality. If you usually find earbuds uncomfortable—and we know many of you do—Lauren’s findings are worth checking out.

Chopstick rests: Soon after we published our review of chopsticks, we were inundated with requests (across comments and social media) to identify the little cat-shaped chopstick rests we used as props in our chopsticks photo shoot. Because of all the interest from readers, we added a section on chopstick rests to the review with several recommendations, including a link to the crowd-favorite cats.

Things we’re looking into thanks to you

A design change to one of our favorite cloth face masks: Readers let us know that the Banana Republic cloth face masks we recommend are now thicker and tougher to breathe through than they used to be. We’ve ordered a new version for a fresh round of testing, alongside a few other masks we’ve been wanting to try.

Handheld vacuums with removable batteries: When we took stock of the feedback we had been getting from readers on this review, the collective desire to be able to replace the battery without needing to replace the whole vacuum was a clear trend. Consequently, in our next round of testing we’re focusing particularly on models with removable batteries, plus a few plug-in and compact contenders. Check out the update box at the top of the handheld vacuums review for a list of some of the exact models we’re calling in.

Excellent contributions

Shout-out to Wes! for posting a detailed review of the third-party 8BitDo SN30 Pro+ controller for the Nintendo Switch in the comments of our review of the best Switch accessories. We haven’t covered the SN30 Pro+ ourselves, but Wes’s comment provides a thorough rundown from the feel of the D-pad to the software customization options to the battery life and charge time. It’s awesome that Wes shared this take—we definitely think Wes’s comment will provide useful perspective for people who would like to know more about the SN30 Pro+. This isn’t the first time we’ve featured Wes’s words, either—we gave Wes a shout-out earlier this year for reporting a fit issue with screen protectors for the iPhone SE. Thanks for being part of this community, Wes!

Shout-out to Loki! for sharing a great tip in the comments of our review of over-the-range microwaves. Loki’s research turned up a way to turn off the tones on our runner-up pick, the Whirlpool WMH31017, by pressing and holding the 2 button for five seconds. (Thanks to Loki’s source, Reddit user u/righteousmoss, too.)

We’ll have to investigate firsthand and update our review to incorporate what we learned from Loki. Thanks so much for sharing what you found!