New: Bikes!
The pandemic requires new tools to soothe your mind. So, we’re adding some top bike tools to our coverage, starting with a great bike: Marin Bikes Presidio. More details to come.
Best Video Editor
Final Cut Pro X
If you’re looking for a powerful video editing solution for your YouTube channel, you simply can’t go wrong with FCP.
Best Wireless Earphones
Apple AirPods Pro
That process is going to get far easier in macOS 11 and iOS 14, when auto switching will be introduced. Besides convenience, the AirPods Pro offer superb design and fit, improved bass performance, effective noise-canceling and excellent call quality.
Everything about the design screams usability. From the case that magnetically sucks in each earphone and then starts charging it, to effortless Bluetooth pairing, this is the best purchase you’ll ever make, after the iPhone, of course.
Website: Apple AirPods Pro
Price: $230.00
Review 1: CNET
Review 2: TechRadar
Best Digital Banking Tool
Best (Facebook) Privacy Manager
Jumbo
Instant messages from early 2004 reveal Zuckerberg called his first few thousand users “dumb fucks” for trusting him with their data (The Register: Facebook founder called trusting users dumb f*cks). No wonder just 41% of U.S. adults trust Facebook to “obey laws that protect your personal information.” (Mashable: 3 in 5 Americans don't trust Facebook to protect their data)
Does this mutual distrust bother him? No. He declared publicly that it was not Facebook’s role to be liked and that it was OK if people disliked him (USA Today: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has a message for you: He doesn't care if you like him).
Now Zuckerberg has declared a war on truth. Facebook, which has some 2.5 billion members and is one of the most powerful media companies on earth, is allowing false advertising to proliferate on its social network — regardless of the damage misinformation and disinformation cause (TechCrunch: Facebook won’t ban political ads, prefers to keep screwing democracy). 🤬
Best YouTube Video Camera
Sony a6400
The 24.2-megapixel APS sensor of the Sony a6400 captures “oversampled” 6K data and then downsamples it to 3,840 x 2,160 producing superb quality 4K video. A flip-up LCD screen cements its current position as the best video camera for vloggers. Highly recommended.
Website: Sony a6400
Price: $998.00
Review 1: Digital Photograpy Review
Review 2: YouTube
Most Innovative Wireless Microphone
RODE Wireless GO
The transmitter can be clipped to clothing and also has a port for an optional lavalier microphone. This innovative solution, with an attractive price point, is disrupting the wireless microphone industry.
Website: RØDE Wireless Go
Price: $199.00
Review 1: Digital Filmmaker
Review 2: Newsshooter
Most Innovative WordPress Builder
Divi
We love the free-floating settings palettes, the ability to edit directly on-page, and, in particular, its newest feature: a superbly designed theme editor that lets you create site-wide headers, footers, single-post blog templates. The theme editor is a true “wow” feature.
Like Elementor, Divi features an extensive layouts library, all responsive and pre-templated for fast site web design. Then there are literally hundreds of YouTube videos that show you how to create just about anything. A must-buy for any WordPress blogger or designer.
Use this site as a stellar example of what Divi can accomplish, or check out MichaelTchong.com.
Website: Elegant Themes
Price: Yearly access: $89.00/yr.; Lifetime access (one-time fee): $249.00/yr.
Review 1: aThemes
Review 2: CollectiveRay
Best Database/Spreadsheet
Airtable
It features rich fields that can hold checkboxes, dropdown menus. Has traditional grid, calendar or “kanban” (like Trello) views. Realtime collaboration with commenting and change audit trails is a huge plus.
But its most powerful feature may well be its ability to add look-up fields that link to other sheets for data consistency, making Airtable a true relational database. Perhaps the best testimonial is that we manage all Toolhacker editorial items in Airtable. 😉
Website: Airtable
Price: Free (Unlimited bases, 1,200 records/base/2GB attachments/base); Plus (5,000 records per base, supports Blocks and 5GB of data): $10/mo.; Pro (50,000 records per base and 20GB of data): $20/mo.
Review 1: Macworld
Review 2: Zapier
Best Design Tool
Figma
The best part is that Figma can import Sketch files, produced by another popular design tool, but Sketch charges $99.00 for its app. And while its cloud-based architecture makes Figma ideal for collaborating teams, Figma has released a standalone macOS app that makes it even more appealing.
Website: Figma
Price: Starter: Free (2 members); Pro (1 editor, unlimited members): $15.00/editor/mo.; Organization (unlimited teams, private projects): $45.00/editor/mo.
Review 1: Noteworthy - The Journal Blog
Review 2: Smashing Magazine
Best Mobile Scanning App
ScanPro
Conveniently saves your scans to iCloud for maximum convenience. It’s an app you won’t be able to live without. ScanPro uses the Scanbot technology shown above, which the developer is now shopping to other companies. If your company is approached by Chief Sales Officer Mark Stratmann, don’t hesitate for a moment. 🤗
Website: Scanbot
Price: Free; ScanPro+: $35.00/yr.
Review 1: Engadget
Review 2: Wirecutter
Easiest-to-Use Design Tool
Canva
Canva lets you easily create beautiful brochures, social media posts and other design documents. Use Canva's drag-and-drop feature and professional layouts to design consistently stunning graphics.
The best news is that Canva now offers a desktop app (pictured above), a move that makes control freaks, like us, very happy! 😁
Website: Canva
Price: Free; Pro: $12.95/mo.
Review 1: PC World
Review 2: G2