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New York Times
17-07-2025
- Lifestyle
- New York Times
Goodbye, Black Jeans. Hello, Giant Chinos.
Ever since I could pick out my own clothes, I've gravitated toward black jeans. I'm talking decades of life in black jeans — and maybe a pair of blue jeans if I wanted to go a little crazy. Going on a date? Black jeans. Commuting to work? Black jeans. Leaving for the airport? Black jeans, even for a six-hour flight. Headed to the beach? Change from black jeans into a swimsuit. My wedding day? Don't worry, I wore a tux. But I definitely changed into it from a pair of black jeans. Despite being set in my ways, I'm still something of a clotheshorse. While perusing the land of perpetual sales — website — I stumbled across its Giant-fit Chino Pant and had a good laugh at the idea. Chinos, to me, were the kind of pants my mom picked out for me when I was 10 years old, the same year she gave me a bowl cut. Since I enjoy gently torturing my wife, I showed her the page, thinking she'd be aghast at the idea of me in comically large pants. To my surprise, she encouraged me to get them. What the heck, I thought. They're big pants, and they're marked down. If they were funny-looking, I'd send 'em back. So I popped a khaki-colored pair in my cart and left the rest up to fate — convinced that no pair of pants could release my death grip on black jeans. Turns out, I was wrong — I love these pants. My wife loves these pants on me. And I get compliments on them when I'm out and about. I even bought another pair in blue so that I could wear them more often. I'm not just a chino guy now, but a Giant-fit Chino guy. Am I even me anymore? I sure am, and I'm looking better than ever. These roomy pants cut a different figure than most men's pants and can be easily dressed up or down across seasons. The Giant-fit chinos are exactly what they sound like — a regular pair of pants but with appreciably wider-cut legs. The silhouette is completely different from my usual look: It presents more of a straight line from my shoulders to my feet, a look that I worried might be too angular but instead appears refreshingly clean and relaxed. And because these chinos are so different from my usual pants, they've become a bit of a statement piece in my wardrobe. The pants are made of a midweight (8.5-ounce) cotton, which, combined with the large ankle opening, allows for a nice breathability. They've held up well over two years, with sturdy cover stitches on the seams and belt loops. They come prewashed and have only broken in more over repeat washings; if you're at all worried about how stiff and straight they look upon arrival, note that they do eventually relax a bit. Big chinos also mean big pockets — I can easily fit a sunglasses case along with my usual wallet, phone, keys, and headphones in there — and the pockets are angled for easy access. The Giant-fit chinos offer a relaxed fit with a wider-than-usual profile. The always-cuffed bottoms show off new shoes or hide a pair of boots. Evan Dent/NYT Wirecutter All of that is to say, they're just plain comfy. They let my legs breathe in the summer months, even over nine innings in the sun at a baseball game. I've worn them on extended drives and lengthy flights, never before realizing that I could both look dressed-up and feel comfortable on an hours-long trip. And because of their width, in the depths of winter I can sneak a pair of long johns under them without sacrificing comfort. I can dress them up or dress them down. I can wear them with a collared shirt for work or with a T-shirt for weekend activities. And they go with a number of my favorite sweaters, including Wirecutter writer Hannah Frye's favorite rollneck sweater, a mainstay in my own closet. I can wear them a bit lower on my waist for a more casual look, or I can keep them higher for a cleaner, more straight-line look. I can show off some new sneakers one way, or I can hide a pair of always-on Blundstones during the winter the other way, just by belting these pants a little higher or a little lower. (The cuffs are affixed, so you have to work around that.) Just about the only thing they don't go with are other large pieces of clothing, such as some of my oversize sweaters and longer shirts, which can create too boxy a look for my personal style. Of course, when it comes to style, everyone is different. You might feel differently based on how they fall on you, I can't say. The wide legs allow for nice airflow during the summer months. Evan Dent/NYT Wirecutter I can say, however, that these pants are definitely not made for any kind of precipitation — those wide legs stick out under umbrellas and pick up a distinctive water mark on the shins as you swish forward. And yes, these pants do swish a bit as you walk. If the idea of that bugs you, our giant-pants paths may just never cross, though at least you'll hear me coming. If your interest is piqued, but you're dissuaded by the nearly $120 base price for these chinos, I advise holding tight for a week or two, until inevitably puts them on sale for 40% off. (Real sale devotees know to hold strong till you get 60%, no matter how many 'Last Chance!' emails you receive.) I bought my pairs for $63 each. Will these pants change your life? I wouldn't go that far, but I will tell you they've changed mine. They've unlocked a whole new side of my personal style and allowed me to experiment in ways that men's fashion does not always permit. More than that, it's nice to know that even after decades, a leopard can indeed change its spots — or at least wear something other than black jeans every day. This article was edited by Hannah Rimm and Maxine Builder.
New York Times
27-06-2025
- New York Times
Is This 3-in-1 Robot Vacuum the Cleaning Machine of the Future? Not Quite.
To evaluate the E20 in all of its permutations and on all of its various cleaning modes, I took cues from our test protocols for robot and cordless stick vacuums. I set up a couple of different obstacle courses on our 100-square-foot medium-pile test carpet. And then I spread messes like Cheerios, birdseed, and glitter around chair legs, under tables, and near loose cables. I also ran the robot and its cordless-stick and handheld conversions on hardwood flooring and low-pile carpeting at home, and I tested it against pet hair. All in all, the E20 cleaned about as well as the Eufy RoboVac 11S Max, our budget-pick robot vac, but it fell short of our top pick, the Roborock Q5 Max+. A lot of robot vacuums struggle to unearth small particulates from deeply piled carpets, and this model is no exception. The Eufy E20 robot ably navigated the obstacle course I set up for it on our test carpet. However, it struggled to lift glitter out of the depths of the carpet and missed some debris around chair legs. Evan Dent/NYT Wirecutter Setting up the E20's base and connected smartphone app was a breeze, and it didn't take long to get the robot mapping and vacuuming. The vacuum impressively traversed every inch of our test carpet, showing off some nifty cornering and edgework when maneuvering around chair and table legs. At around 20 decibels in standard mode, this vac is also fairly quiet (about as loud as a whisper); it reaches about 40 decibels when emptying its bin (comparable to the noise level in a library). The E20 sleekly maneuvered right around the edge of this narrow table leg. Evan Dent/NYT Wirecutter Within the app, this map of my small apartment shows how much the E20 was able to clean without my having to neaten up beforehand to help it. (The white lines represent the robot's path.) Eufy The E20 sleekly maneuvered right around the edge of this narrow table leg. Evan Dent/NYT Wirecutter But it's hardly something you can set and forget. When I tested the E20 in my apartment, I found that it's prone to getting tangled in cords, so it's best to tidy up first. (I also tucked in carpet tassels, which tend to snarl it.) The E20 had trouble getting around my space, choosing to skip areas at the slightest sign of resistance rather than attempt a workaround, and I had to respond to the chatty robot's distress alerts when it got stuck. A fold in the middle of an area rug proved particularly fearsome and stopped two cleaning sessions. After I neatened up, the robot was able to hit more spots, but it still had some navigational hiccups. The Eufy E20 navigated a particularly tight spot in our obstacle course — it was able to get right up to edges without hitting the table leg. Evan Dent/NYT Wirecutter The robot has four cleaning modes: Eco, Standard, Turbo, and Maximum. In Standard mode, it returned to its dock after leaving behind some Cheerios and birdseed, particularly around the edges of the carpet and near some furniture legs on our testing obstacle course. The glitter was particularly challenging: The robot picked up some of it, left more behind, and spread a few sparkles across the carpet as it moved around. Even after a run on the more intense Turbo mode, it still left glitter behind in the carpet. (The robot was too busy self-emptying its bin to care.) It can also miss messes around corners, baseboards, and furniture; these are areas where its cordless stick vacuum conversion should come in handy. The Eufy E20 in its dock (left) and fully transformed into a cordless stick vacuum (right). The stick vacuum doesn't stand up on its own. Evan Dent/NYT Wirecutter Switching the E20 from a robot vac to a cordless stick or handheld vacuum is as easy as hitting a large red button on the robot itself, removing the storage bin and handle, and clicking it into the cordless stick attachment. But the cordless stick version isn't very elegant: The front-oriented handle is a bit awkward to hold, and the weight is at the back of the unit, so your hand and arm can get tired during prolonged cleaning sessions. It also doesn't stand up on its own. The cleaning head has a motorized brush roll to help agitate deeper-seated debris. The vacuum can cycle through its four different power modes: Eco, Standard, Turbo, and Maximum. You use the same button to switch between modes and to turn the vacuum on and off; it took us a beat to get the hang of it. The battery lasts about 30 minutes in Eco mode (and scales down as you increase the power), though it can run for much longer as a robot vacuum (up to three hours in Eco mode). Converting the vacuum to its handheld modes can be done quickly — even with just one hand. Evan Dent/NYT Wirecutter In Standard mode, the E20's stick vacuum picked up the remnants of larger debris that its robot counterpart had left behind. It didn't snowplow Cheerios or birdseed, dump stuff out after it was turned off, or jam on our medium-pile test carpet. But even on its highest setting, it still struggled to pick up leftover glitter in the carpet. While cordless-stick vacuums are stronger than robot vacs, they can't access debris deep in carpets the way a plug-in vacuum can. The E20's robot vacuum has a little less than a third of the suction power that it does in stick-vac form, according to the company. Our tests with a specialized suction gauge backed this up. Switching to cordless-stick mode is as easy as a click of that big red button on the robot, but the E20 is a bit awkward to hold as a stick vacuum. Evan Dent/NYT Wirecutter The E20's bin capacity is just over 12 ounces, which is small (two of our cordless-stick picks have bin capacities of more than 30 ounces). Any prolonged cleaning session will require emptying the bin multiple times — either by knocking it out over a garbage can or by converting the vac back to a robot so it can deposit its haul in the dock. While this is a nice feature in theory (and can help to limit dust exposure), it requires placing the cordless-stick handle back in the robot and waiting for it to drive out, turn around, and empty. The cordless-stick version of the E20 fared better on hard floors and low-pile rugs: It easily sucked up dust and other small particulates, as well as the Cheerios and birdseed, which the robot also did. That left the crevices, corners, and shelves that only a handheld vacuum can access. And, hey, the E20 can turn into one of those too! The E20 in its handheld mode, with attached crevice tool. Though a bit awkwardly designed, it's a good cleaner in a pinch. Evan Dent/NYT Wirecutter Almost all cordless stick vacuums (including all of our picks) can be converted into a handheld vacuum, so the E20's ability to transform is nothing earth-shattering. The E20 comes with a crevice attachment (which conveniently stores on the robot vacuum itself) and a combination nozzle and brush attachment (which you'll have to stash elsewhere). It also comes with a wall-mounted storage kit that will house the cordless-stick tube and the combination tool, if you're willing to drill a couple of holes in your wall. Because the attachments connect to the middle of the E20, its design is less comfortable than that of a traditional hand vacuum, which has its handle situated on the back of the machine and its nozzle on the front (for a balanced weight distribution). Once you get past the awkwardness, the handheld vacuum is about as useful as the attachments allow. The crevice tool can navigate tight spaces and pick up small debris, and the combination tool is able to collect pockets of dust in corners and edges. Given enough passes, the combination tool adequately picked up pet hair on upholstery and harder surfaces. But it lagged behind other, more efficient handheld vacuums that typically come with a fur-busting, agitating mini-power-brush attachment. (High-end cordless stick vacuums typically come with this attachment, as does our budget pick.) The E20 is a pretty good robot vacuum, a fine stick vacuum, and a capable handheld vac, but it's nothing extraordinary in any one mode. It's more of a Swiss Army Knife than a Leatherman. If you're starting from zero vacuums, and you live in a small, relatively open space with mostly hardwood floors and a few rugs (caveat after caveat!), or you'd like a robot vacuum to upgrade your cleaning setup, the E20 could work. But in both cases, I'd recommend our budget robot vacuum and budget cordless stick vacuum picks instead. They're better individual machines (and will save you around $200). If a self-emptying dock is your priority, one of our cordless stick picks comes with one (and it costs about $250 less than the E20). While the E20 is a decent stab at an all-in-one cleaner, we're not there yet. Life (now and, presumably, in the future) is full of compromises — no matter how many functions are jammed into one machine. This article was edited by Ingrid Skjong and Megan Beauchamp. Robot vacuums never get bored or tired, so with little effort on your part, they can keep your floors consistently tidy. Power cords got you wound up? We've tested dozens of cordless stick vacuums to find those with the best combination of cleaning power, comfort, and convenience. Roborock's latest robot vacuum-mop has an AI-powered arm that can pick up small items. But most of the time, you still have to pick up your own mess. For a dependable, versatile, and affordable cleaner, we prefer a bagless upright, but we have recommendations for other types of vacuums as well. What I Cover I'm a Brooklyn-based writer with a focus on home appliances, vacuums, and other cleaning tools (steam mops, carpet cleaners, the works) and sleep products, particularly mattresses and their accessories.
