Cut the Cord With the 21 Best Wireless Chargers of 2020

Sure, cutting the cord might be best applied to getting rid of your cable package. But it’s also a good thought to apply to how we charge our smart devices, too. Having a mess of tangled up cords is never fun and with the prevalence of Bluetooth headphones, you should look to free your phone or smartwatch from cords too. Which is where wireless chargers come into play.

As evidenced by its name, a wireless charger is typically a stand or a pad of some sort that will charge your smart devices just by resting the device on the stand. These chargers use their induction coils to create an electrical connection to the coil inside your phone, therefore removing the need for you to plug the cord in. This also speeds up the charging time considerably.

Wireless charging is advancing by leaps and bounds, and with the iPhone 12 touching down from the Apple spaceship with its MagSafe charging system, it’s about to get a bigger push than ever before.

But despite all the fancy tech, these chargers aren’t very expensive and it’s easy to get one that can fit your individual needs. So cut the cord already and get one of the 21 best wireless chargers below.

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Remembering Sean Connery, One of Our Greatest Movie Stars

This article originally appeared on Complex.com

For a certain subset of males around the globe, James Bond is the pinnacle of masculinity. His style and swagger have long served as an exceedingly aspirational template since his creation in 1953 by novelist Ian Fleming. Fleming may have made Bond a household name, but Sir Thomas Sean Connery made Bond a legend.

Connery, who passed today at the age of 90, was everything you could want and imagine from a movie star. It’s overwhelmingly cliché to say that they don’t make movie stars like Connery anymore, but there’s often truth in well-worn phrases: Connery created the mold of a modern action star. His inherent magnetism, rugged bravado, effortless wit, endless sex appeal, and an overwhelming sense of style form a totality that’s hard to top—certainly by Bond standards, let alone by modern performers. Connery’s impact lingers in the edges of every action performance, whether intentional or otherwise, to this day.

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Bring Home the Bar With the 8 Best Kegerators

There are few things better than an ice-cold beer. The way the frothy foam hits your lips, the delicious taste of the hops and the overall relaxing vibes are enough to make even the most difficult of days fade away entirely. Yet, even from a bottle, it’s not quite the same as having a beer fresh from the tap at a bar. The good news is, if you’re willing to spend a little dough, you can bring that same experience home with a kegerator.

We’re not talking about a keg you may have snagged during college for a party (or seven) but rather an actual home-ready keg system you’d find at your local watering hole. Many kegerators are freestanding or easily installable into your existing bar and will provide that luscious, fresh beer taste thanks to their CO2 dispensing system. Additionally, many kegerators will allow you to control the temperature with digital control so you can make it just perfect after a long day.

With that in mind, we’ve rounded up eight of the best kegerators and mini kegerators for your use at home — our selects, below.

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We Talked To Todd Snyder About His New L.L.Bean Collection, the Perfect Partnership for Fall 2020

There are few brands more quintessentially American than L.L.Bean. The Maine-based outdoor recreation brand is known for its incredible catalog, cozy fleeces, iconic duck boots, and for otherwise being an institution when it comes to outfitting people for Mother Nature’s worst (and best). As great of a heritage brand as it is, L.L. Bean might not be the first retailer you’d expect to be part of a hot new designer collaboration, and yet, that didn’t stop New York City designer Todd Snyder from diving in with both feet.

L.L.Bean opened its historic archive to Snyder, who then reimagined some of the brand’s most iconic designs for modern times. Released on October 30, some of our favorite looks from the collection are already selling out. (You can shop the whole line at Todd Snyder.)

“It’s a big deal for me,” Snyder told SPY over email. “I think like most people, I’ve been a fan of L.L.Bean for my whole life. I could have never imagined that I would be here now, that I would be allowed to visit the archives, that’s insane!”

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'The Mandalorian' Hyperdrives Deeper Into 'Star Wars' Universe in Season 2 Premiere

This article originally appeared on Complex.com

When The Mandalorian first premiered last year, it caught viewers by surprise. Sure, the trailers and pre-show conversation around the Jon Favreau-helmed series gave the audience an idea of its Western-influenced roots. But the real surprise—Baby Yoda!—was left until the premiere’s final few seconds. Now, a full season later, The Mandalorian doesn’t have quite the same element of shock as it had when it debuted, but that doesn’t mean it still can’t find new ways to be exciting. 

Anyone who thought The Mandalorian’s Season 2 premiere, titled "The Marshal," might try and ease new watchers into its world are in for a rude awakening. The episode picks up in media res after the first season’s finale events with titular Mandalorian Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) on the hunt for information that could lead him to another underground network of Mandalorians. The tip sends him, and us, back to the start of Star Wars—and brings its own level of wonders worthy of George Lucas’ original movies.

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The Best Nintendo Switch Carrying Cases to Keep Your Console Secure on the Road

The Nintendo Switch is probably my favorite game console on the market right now. Between the first-party exclusives, wonderful indies, and the ability to take a console with me on the go, the system has been my travel buddy time and time again. But with a system that nice and handy, you’ll want to be sure to protect it from the rough and tumble conditions of traveling, which is why investing in a Nintendo Switch carrying case is key.

Ideally constructed out of durable material (EVA foam, leather, or otherwise) with room for accessories and a few games, most carrying cases are pretty straight forward. It mostly comes down to what you’re looking for on the exterior and how much interior space you want to carry other things. However, we’ve rounded up nine different options for you to make gaming on the go even easier.

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The Mandalorian Is Star Wars That Haters Can Love

This article originally appeared on GQ.com

The Mandalorian is now a massive mainstream hit, but it’s easy to forget that the series was not necessarily a sure thing. Yes, launching Disney+ with a TV show associated with one of the most successful movie series of all time is an obvious move, but Disney’s previous extensions of the Star Wars franchise were an absolute rollercoaster: A start full of promise ultimately concluded with a whimper that left plenty of road bumps along the way, including disappointing spinoffs. The Mandalorian, which returns this Friday for a second season, succeeds precisely because it leaves all that operatic source material behind.

The show is basically a space western: there’s a heist, a Magnificent Seven/Seven Samurai-inspired riff on protecting a defenseless town from enemy invaders, plenty of gunfights, and bounty hunting. Gone are the galactic wars, the Skywalker family tree, the good vs. evil battle between the Jedi and the Sith -- all the tiresome, endlessly picked-over, self-serious drama that Disney decided to rehash yet again in its movies. Instead, our nameless bounty hunter spends his time rubbing shoulders with the denizens of a grimy underworld while having utterly no idea who Luke, Leia, and Han are. Blissful relief! The Mandalorian’s eight-episode first season feels more in line with old Buck Rodgers and Flash Gordon serials, two touchpoints that inspired Lucas when creating the very first Star Wars back in ‘77.

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Make Quick Work of Fall Mess With These 8 Leaf Vacuums

Fall, for all its beauty, is a real pain if you have a yard. All those leaves are certainly gorgeous to look at but decidedly less so if they’re covering your yard and preventing grass from growing effectively. Sure, you can use a blower to push them into piles, but you still have to dispose of them one way or another. And cleaning them up by hand can take forever, which is where a leaf vacuum can be a huge time saver.

As evidenced by its name, leaf vacuums suck up all those leaves into a bag to make disposal even easier. Some leaf vacuums also include a blower and shredder functionality. You can switch between to make the entire clean-up process move much faster. All of our selections are electric, which means you don’t need to worry about getting gas to fill it up or bother with extra weight. Instead, get an extension cord or charge a battery pack, and you’ll be all set. Here are eight of our favorites to help you clean up your yard in no time and get back to enjoying the beauty of fall.

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