Eliana Willis

While sometimes the occasion calls for blasting music with top-quality speakers, other days you just need a little — or a lot of — peace and quiet — even outside of noise-canceling earbuds. Soundproof curtains can block out distracting sound and light to help you sleep later, become more productive in a home office, and even save money on your energy bill. The best soundproof curtains have design options worthy of integrating into your home décor, while also reducing unwanted echoes and amplifications at a budget-friendly price. Also: The best noise-canceling headphonesWhat are the best soundproof curtains right now? We researched many of the top-rated soundproof curtains on the market and evaluated them for noise-reduction and blackout capacity, material quality, price, and user reviews. Our pick for the best soundproof curtains overall is the Nicetown 100% Blackout Curtains More

With the resurgence of retro favorites like vinyl and wired earbuds, the fun of watching live tv is making a comeback–especially with recent and upcoming live events like the Superbowl and the Oscars. Luckily, basic TV antennas are a great low-cost way to watch news, sports, and other live events without shelling out for costly premium cable packages. Contrary to popular belief, there are a bunch of OTA (over-the-air) TV channels that you can access for free with a solid antenna (though streaming services would love to tell you otherwise). OTA TV offers a wider variety of choices than you might remember if you haven’t used a rabbit-ear antenna since switching over to cable or satellite. These days, most of your local TV stations offer two or three different “channels” per station. Besides the big over-the-air networks, today, there are numerous smaller networks, such as MeTV, AntennaTV, and Comet, which offer older TV shows; Univision, Estrella TV, and Telemundo for Spanish-language TV; and QVC and other home shopping networks. Most stations broadcast their network programs on HDTV. And, unlike your local cable or satellite company, they don’t charge you a thing for the extra “service.” What’s the best TV antenna you can buy right now?To watch any kind of OTA TV, you’ll probably need an antenna. If you’re lucky, you can still get a decent selection of channels with good old rabbit ears but if not, towers and antennae are still available. I grew up installing TV antennas for my dad’s television business and have since gone hands-on with all the brands on this list to determine the best TV antenna for your needs. My pick for the best TV antenna overall is the ClearStream 2Max More

<!–> ZDNET’s key takeaways The Emeet Pico+ webcam is available now on Amazon for $89 With outstanding video quality and a tiny footprint, this is the ideal webcam for on-the-go video meetings To get the best sound from the Pico+, you’ll need to use the Emeet Studio app, which is only available for MacOS and […] More

Apple/ZDNETOn Thursday, Apple unveiled the newest edition to its iPhone lineup, namely the iPhone 16e. Also: I revisited the iPhone SE in 2025Initially, many people assumed Apple would christen it with the name iPhone SE 4. But the new moniker makes greater sense given the phone’s more robust features and Apple’s obvious desire to position it in the iPhone 16 family.What’s new with the iPhone 16e?Starting at $600, the iPhone 16e offers a host of enhancements over its SE predecessors. You’ll find a newer and refreshed design, a 6.1-inch OLED display, support for the AI-powered Apple Intelligence, an A18 chipset, Face ID, a USB-C connection, and Apple’s first in-house modem. On the camera end, the new model sports a 48MP wide camera on the back with an integrated 2x telephoto lens and a 12MP front-facing camera. Also: The best Apple deals of February 2025Sounds pretty good. But then there’s that “e” at the end.  More

Jaque Silva/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images Google Wallet has quietly become one of the most useful apps in your phone’s arsenal. Not only does it let you tap to pay in stores without your physical wallet or card, but you can store multiple cards, loyalty cards, official state IDs, your US passport, and more. Also: Android […] More

<!–> ZDNET’s key takeaways The Eufy FamiLock S3 Max is a new video smart lock available for pre-order for $400, though, for a limited time, you can get a $70 discount. This smart lock also features a camera and doorbell button, and an indoor screen shows you who is at the door. I just wish […] More