Headphones/ear buds. It really comes down to your use case. If you listen to podcasts and audiobooks 90% of the time then you only need good enough which is typically around $40.
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If you listen in noisy environments, I'd bet active-noise cancellation is good for your hearing though
Ooof, I dunno… You can probably get by with cheap headphones, but they’re probably one of the objects you’ll spend the most time with and a good set can really make a difference. Good noise cancelling is essentially a requirement for me to live.
Hard disagree. I mean yeah, if you're only listening to speech, garbage quality headphones are where it's at.
But if you listen to music, a decent pair makes an absolute world of difference. It's like night and day. Like comparing a tin can to a music concert.
You don't have to spend a zillion dollars, though. A good set can absolutely still be had for cheap, but you just have to do your research first.
Personally I had way too many quality issues at that price range. An earbud would be randomly quieter than the other, the battery of an earbud would die, the Bluetooth would suck, or they would be unusable for phone calls. I bought refurbished $100-something headphones for $70 and haven't needed to buy any more since.
I will go the opposite route here, and tell people to instead make an exception for certain things, and never go for cheap unknown brands.
- highly reputed Oxymeter in medical establishment (do not buy inaccurate smartwatches, Apple is 20x ripoff and still subpar)
- Victorinox for Swiss army knife
- Victorinox or Leatherman for multitool
- reputed branded batteries (Maxell, Duracell, Sanyo, Sony, Eneloop et al)
- reputed battery/device chargers
- PSU/SMPS and UPS for computer (APC, Emerson, Schneider and other brands)
- reputed brand watches (Casio, Citizen, Seiko have affordable BIFL options)
- ThinkPad for laptop (user repairability, third party parts, open schematics)
- Levis for jeans, they are almost BIFL
- a good weighing machine for kitchen/home use
- a good mixer grinder WITH safety lock (atleast 750W)
- quality stationery pen, mechanical pencil, leads, eraser and other items (Uni, Pentel, Sakura, Staedtler et al, refer to JetPens website)
Edit: fuck you GrapheneOS, for almost 2 months now, they are mass downvoting my comments, and doing voting manipulation, also abusing federation
Electric toothbrushes. Don't get the cheapest one either, get a mid range one from a good brand but the top end models of the good brands are just scams, they just look a bit nicer and have some shitty "AI powered" app you'll never use.
There are only a few things, I find, worth shelling out a bit for. British tea brands (British émigré), boots, and ale come to mind. Some other things you're taking your chances a bit if you don't spend a bit more, like bikes, electronics, and musical instruments. Otherwise I'm a stingey aul get and it does me fine.