SSPAI

Category: New stuff

  • New Stuff 232｜What SSPAI Editors Have Been Buying Lately

    New Stuff 232｜What SSPAI Editors Have Been Buying Lately

    @老麦: Ledao L90 Black Knight Edition

    After all these years, I’ve actually never truly bought a six-seat car. As Little Mai keeps growing up, family trips have become a real challenge. Over the past couple of years, on longer journeys we basically ended up leaving the grandparents at home, which always made me feel a bit guilty. On top of that, the ES6 is starting to feel a little old, so the idea of switching to a six-seater gradually took shape.

    At first, I did look at brands beyond NIO, including the dominant SUV players like Li Auto and AITO. Each of them has its own strengths—some excel in assisted driving, others focus more on comfort. But once I compared prices, the Ledao L90 stood out: choosing the battery-rental option knocks ¥86,000 off the price, effectively turning a ¥300,000-level configuration into something just over ¥200,000. The value proposition was simply too strong. And since I haven’t exactly been making much money this year, I figured saving where I could was the sensible choice.

    Once I actually got the car and started driving it, it really felt like a hidden gem. The Black Knight edition is essentially the fully loaded Ultra trim: high-performance dual-motor AWD, 0–100 km/h in 4.7 seconds, air suspension, and all the creature comforts—fridge, big screen, plush seats, even little tray tables. It meets the travel needs of both kids and seniors perfectly. The massive front trunk deserves special mention. A few years ago, when I borrowed a car for a full-family road trip, luggage space was the bottleneck, and we had to stack bags inside the cabin, which seriously hurt the experience. With the Ledao, that’s no longer a concern. Looking at this frunk, I even feel like if I ever lost my job, I could take it to the street and sell fruit from it.

    The cabin setup is hard to fault. Real wood paired with metal accents feels premium, heating and massage are all there, and the sound system is actually better than the one in my ¥300,000-plus ES6. The infotainment is smooth, and Xiao Le responds quickly—though it still doesn’t support wake-word-free commands, so coming from the ET9, I do have to remind myself to call out “Xiao Le” first. Compared with other NIO models, ambient fragrance isn’t standard, but there’s a purification and fragrance product in the Ledao store that supports ozone sterilization and deodorization, and can link with the car system. It looks promising, and I’ve already placed an order.

    Because I didn’t have time to attend a test drive before, I had no idea what the L90’s driving dynamics would be like. After more than a week behind the wheel, it’s been pleasantly surprising. First of all, it doesn’t feel like piloting a massive boat—driving it is light and agile. Thanks to the air suspension and CDC dampers, bumps are filtered out much better, keeping passengers comfortable. More importantly, when I’m driving alone and switch to Sport mode, there’s no obvious body roll or wobble in high-speed corners. I’ve also watched other media reviews, and it’s clear that the L90’s tuning deliberately preserves a degree of driving engagement, so you don’t end up feeling like nothing more than a chauffeur. That’s actually pretty rare.

    Buying this L90 also coincided with NIO’s push to achieve profitability in Q4 and the milestone of rolling out its one-millionth vehicle, so in a small way it feels meaningful to be part of that. I have a special emotional connection to the NIO brand, and I genuinely hope that companies with this kind of user-centric, long-term mindset can turn things around and thrive—it would also boost confidence across the industry. Fortunately, Ledao’s value for money comes from years of NIO’s in-house R&D and accumulated know-how. As the battery-swap network continues to expand into lower-tier cities, there’s still plenty of room for growth in third- and fourth-tier markets.

    @一只索狗: OnePlus Turbo6

    • Acquisition: provided by the manufacturer for review
    • Price: 12GB + 256GB, launch promo ¥2,099 (¥1,784.15 after national subsidy)

    Most of the devices I’ve used recently have been imaging-focused flagships, so it’s been a while since I last spent time with a performance-oriented phone in the thousand-yuan price segment. This time, I happened to get early access to the newly announced OnePlus Turbo6, and here are my brief impressions.

    The OnePlus Turbo6 carries over the same aesthetic language as the flagship models, continuing the metal “Rubik’s Cube” camera deco design. It comes in three colors: Tracing Silver, Solo Black, and Wild Green. Judging from photos, the Wild Green unit I have doesn’t look particularly “green,” largely due to lighting angles and color grading. In reality, this colorway is indeed quite understated—at certain angles, it’s already very close to a silvery white.

    In terms of specs, my OnePlus Turbo6 is equipped with the fourth-generation Snapdragon 8s “Fengchi Edition,” paired with 16 GB of LPDDR5X memory and UFS 4.1 storage. OnePlus once again emphasizes that this chip is deeply customized in collaboration with Qualcomm. With the “Fengchi Gaming Kernel” baked in, it delivers what OnePlus claims is the only 165 Hz ultra-high-frame-rate gaming experience in its class.

    Popular titles on the market such as Honor of Kings, Call of Duty, and Naruto already support the 165 Hz ultra-high-frame-rate mode. However, based on my testing in Call of Duty, the one downside is that frame rates of 120 fps and above can’t coexist with the more refined graphics settings.

    As for battery life, OnePlus’ official slogan is “the chewing gum of the phone world,” and in my own testing, it really does feel like it just keeps going. The OnePlus Turbo6 packs a massive 9000 mAh battery—the largest capacity I’ve ever used in a smartphone. I received the device on January 2 and fully charged it then. Although it hasn’t been my primary phone, I’ve still played around two hours of Call of Duty almost every day. As of January 8, it still had about 40% battery remaining without a single recharge.

    Paired with 80W SuperVOOC fast charging, there’s absolutely no battery anxiety in day-to-day use. It even supports 27W PD reverse charging, so doubling as a power bank for an iPhone is no problem at all.

    It’s even a bit faster than a shared power bank.

    With ColorOS 16 on board, the Turbo6’s overall fundamentals as a smartphone are very solid. New features like AI one-tap memory capture are included, and seamless interconnection with the iPhone ecosystem is also supported—something I really appreciate as someone who uses both iOS and Android devices.

    Some people play games just for fun, while others play to win. If you’re chasing peak performance in mobile gaming, the OnePlus Turbo6 is an esports-focused weapon designed to help you climb the ranks.

    @北鸮: 2026 Slack-Off Calendar

    • Reference price: ¥119

    A new year naturally calls for a new calendar. I didn’t think too hard about it this time—back in early December, I ordered some merch purely out of fandom from the “Slack-Off Office” channel, which I’d been watching a lot last year. Given that channel’s track record, some kind of mishap was almost guaranteed. The batch I received just before New Year’s Day had a misprint for about a week around October. Thankfully, that’s still far off, so I’ll just wait for them to send replacement calendar pages later.

    This year’s Slack-Off Calendar is themed around Lucky Koi A-Yah (A-Yah is one of the channel’s mascots). While it claims it’s “not encouraging people to hoard random junk,” the packaging box itself features a matching slack-off design, which made it hard for me to throw away. The calendar itself is shaped like a hand, with a small magnetic area at the bottom that lets you attach the plush Lucky Koi A-Yah. Once it’s on, the whole thing becomes a very literal embodiment of the “slacking off” theme.

    The calendar pages are very straightforward. Whatever day of the week it is, that’s how many times you’re supposed to “slack off.” On weekends, the A-Yah in the background clocks off and goes to sleep. Whenever there’s a holiday, the calendar switches to a little themed illustration. On the right side of each page, there’s also a reminder of how many days are left in the year, and how many days remain until the next day off—constantly telling me just how far away the next bit of hope in life still is.

    The paper is relatively thin, which actually makes it quite suitable for tearing off individual pages, jotting something down, and sticking them into a journal. There’s plenty of blank space for daily notes, too. If you have personal anniversaries, writing them in with a darker-colored marker also gives you that satisfying sense of “watching it get closer.” In the end, this is very much a fan-oriented product—it wins you over with its design. Set it on your desk, and it just makes you happy to look at.

    @路中南: NeilMed Nasal Gel

    • Reference price: ¥61

    Last time in New Gadgets I wrote about a nasal rinse spray, but my nose still tends to suffer from cracked nasal mucosa and occasional bleeding. It’s just that the frequency has gone from year-round to mainly two situations: the first is when flying; the second is when visiting shopping malls. Even wearing a mask doesn’t really help—after spending a long time in high-altitude cabins or overheated, air-conditioned indoor environments, the nasal passages dry out easily. Last weekend, I went to a mall café for a coffee date. We were chatting happily when I suddenly felt moisture in my nose. I had no choice but to stay calm on the surface, grab a tissue, and pinch my nostrils. On the way home, I thought to myself: after all these years of industrial society, there must be a mature product designed to keep the nasal passages moist and prevent this kind of situation.

    A quick search on e-commerce platforms confirmed it—there are indeed plenty of products called “nasal gels.” If only I’d known sooner. But faced with all kinds of potential “fake foreign brands,” I first went to ask ChatGPT. The idea was simple: buy an industry leader or at least a top-three product to reduce the chances of stepping into a pitfall (which also shows the sales potential of large language models). Coincidentally, the very first recommendation was the same product I’d already found on the platform. I originally wanted to support a domestic brand, Kefu, but was surprised to find that its medical gel cost more than twice the price of this NeilMed product. Maybe that’s just the magic of medical devices. In the end, I had to settle for the latter.

    Once I got it, I realized that besides the dry indoor heat, dry weather, and air travel I’d personally experienced, high altitudes (which makes sense when you think about it), sleep apnea machines, and long-term oxygen therapy can also cause nasal dryness. One thing to note when using it: you should squeeze for about four seconds so the gel can fully coat the nasal cavity. Generally, applying it every 4–6 hours is sufficient. The bottle itself is tiny, but in addition to the regular cap, it also has a blue safety cap (shown in the second image on the right) to prevent accidental squeezing when carrying it around.

    In actual use, it feels pretty good—nothing fancy, just like a standard saline aloe gel. After squeezing it in, a bit does still flow out. After using it at home, breathing feels noticeably smoother. When going out to malls or wearing a mask, I also feel much more at ease. That said, there can still be slight leakage around the nozzle after use, which is something to watch out for. NeilMed has now officially joined my everyday carry pouch. From now on, before heading into a mall, I’ll definitely give my nose a quick squeeze first. If any fellow readers have friends with sensitive nasal passages who need to fly or travel to high-altitude areas, this is something worth recommending.

    One interesting detail: the package comes with a thick printed booklet. At first, I thought it was just an instruction manual, but it’s actually much more than that. It includes usage guides for all of their products, product comparisons, detailed instructions, and dozens of Q&A-style educational explanations about nasal passages and sinuses. It’s actually quite a decent read when you’re bored.

    Easter egg

    The video version of New Gadgets recently released an episode introducing how to play with the built-in “Mood Flowers” feature in Apple Health. It’s a rather niche but surprisingly practical system feature—give yourself a flower every day, and keep your mood blooming.

    How to Watch:

  • New Stuff 231｜What Have the Editors at SSPAI Been Buying Recently?

    New Stuff 231｜What Have the Editors at SSPAI Been Buying Recently?

    @Tp: Moondrop LAN 2 REF Edition + MC2

    • Reference price: Earphones ¥299, upgrade cable ¥139

    Picking up from the previous post, when I went to buy the NiceBuds, I first noticed the ¥99 Bamboo 2 in the shop and felt a bit tempted. But after browsing around on Bilibili, I realized it didn’t really have anything that stood out to me. On top of that, many people mentioned issues like easily broken pins and inconsistent volume between the left and right earpieces, so I passed on it. While looking up related impressions, I discovered that the LAN 2—released in two versions—actually received quite decent reviews. After some comparison, I decided to pick one up to get a taste of what people call “Hi-Fi.”

    Moondrop’s LAN 2 comes in a POP version and a REF version. The former has a moderate boost in the low frequencies and, according to the official description, is more suitable for pop music, while the latter is better suited for instrumental listening. Since I don’t like that kind of bass that pounds your head, I chose the REF version. In my personal experience, the REF version gives a very clean and transparent listening impression. Especially when listening to instrumental albums with no vocals, such as The Moonlight Zoo, or the orchestral sections in Sodagreen’s album Winter, Ended, each instrument is clearly distinguishable while still blending together harmoniously. Even with pop music, the REF version performs quite well to my ears.

    What surprised me the most was how these earphones helped me notice small details in arrangements that I used to overlook. For example, at the beginning of Wu Qingfeng’s Outsider, there’s a faint “da-da” sound in the background. I first noticed this detail with the LAN 2 REF. When I went back to listen with other earphones, I found that the sound was actually there too—but it was easily masked by other melodies and hard to pick out.

    In terms of comfort, the LAN 2 is quite comfortable for me. The stock cable in particular is soft and slim, making it much more comfortable than a similar in-ear model I tried before. After switching to the MC2, however, the cable became thicker, and the over-ear section no longer used the relatively rounded, wrapped design of the stock cable, making the cable feel much more noticeable on my ears.

    MC2 (left) vs. stock cable (right)

    As for why I bought the MC2 cable: on one hand, the stock cable uses a 4.4 mm connector. Although Moondrop includes a 4.4-to-3.5 mm adapter, having an extra dangling adapter never feels quite right. On the other hand, I wanted in-line controls to change tracks. While the three-stage volume buttons on the side of the iPod nano 7 can be used to skip tracks without waking the screen, I still have to take the device out, which is a bit inconvenient. As for sound quality, honestly, I can’t really tell any difference between the stock cable and the MC2.

    For an ordinary listener like me, who isn’t a hardcore audiophile, the LAN 2 REF version does bring a somewhat different listening experience. At the very least, since getting it, I’ve switched my daily listening from EarPods to these.

    @张奕源Nick: Snapmaker U1 Color 3D Printer

    Note: We also produced a video hands-on of the Snapmaker U1 at the same time. The content differs from New Stuff and can be used as a supplement to the text version. Click to watch.

    Friends, I’ve recently been wanting to properly organize both my home and office desks, which is what got me interested in 3D printing.

    The 3D printing community strongly embraces the open-source spirit, and on various model platforms you can find all kinds of fun and practical storage box designs. For someone like me, with potentially large and ongoing needs, batch printing makes more sense than buying finished products—both economically and in terms of customization. With 3D printing, you can adjust dimensions and even iterate through trial and error, which fits my personalized needs much better.

    As it happens, Snapmaker (Kuàizào Technology) recently launched their consumer-grade color 3D printer, the Snapmaker U1, on JD.com. Our office got one right away, and I kicked off my 3D printing journey by “borrowing the company machine.”

    Snapmaker U1 exterior

    The biggest highlight of the Snapmaker U1 is a system called SnapSwap™—an independent four-head parallel setup. Put simply, this system allows four independent print heads to work on a single print job together, eliminating the need for mid-print filament swapping and purging, and enabling true one-pass multicolor printing.

    The basic idea works like this: before a print job starts, the U1 preheats all four print heads. Once preheating is complete, all four heads remain on standby. During printing, when a specific head is needed, the machine switches to it directly. The U1 uses a steel-ball positioning coupling structure, ensuring precise alignment and secure locking when the print-head exchanger grabs a head—without relying on screws, magnets, or additional motors. The entire head-switching process can be completed in as little as five seconds.

    Independent four-head parallel system: all four print heads stay on standby, and the machine simply “grabs” whichever one it needs

    This independent four-head system isn’t just for show—it delivers real efficiency gains. With traditional single-head printers, multicolor printing requires filament swapping and purging, which means stopping the print mid-job and manually changing materials. After each swap, the printer also has to purge the nozzle, producing a significant amount of waste. This back-and-forth costs both time and material, making it far from economical. With the U1, manual filament swapping and purging are eliminated. All four heads are prepared in advance, and automatic head switching during printing is so fast it’s practically negligible. In effect, you can complete multicolor prints in roughly the same time as single-color ones, dramatically boosting efficiency.

    The machine can also print with multiple materials in a single job

    Thanks to this capability, there are plenty of time-saving workflows you can explore. I often print storage boxes of the same size in different colors, so when setting up a job I’ll place multiple models in different colors on the same build plate. That way, the printer can produce multiple components in one go, saving the time of repeatedly starting new jobs, reheating the machine, and reloading materials. If you want the finished product to look a bit more playful, you can also assign colors while arranging the layout. From my simple comparisons, as long as the base model is the same, there’s little difference in total print time between single-color and multicolor jobs. So the strongest impression the U1 left on me is that even multicolor printing remains highly efficient—you don’t have to worry about it slowing you down.

    You can tweak colors during layout to fully leverage the U1’s efficiency advantages

    And because there’s no repeated mid-print filament swapping, the U1 only needs to purge the print heads once at the start of each job. The larger and more frequent your print batches, the more material cost you save. All waste material is neatly collected in the waste box, which only needs to be emptied about once a week.

    The waste box is hidden at the rear of the machine

    Beyond its core four-head parallel system, the Snapmaker U1 performs well in other areas too.

    First, print quality is solid. All my print jobs use the standard 0.4 mm nozzle and the default 0.2 mm layer height, yet the U1 still delivers sufficiently fine layers and detailed results.

    The built-in Charmander model: scales and horns are rendered with impressive detail

    Second, nearly all functions are automated—one-click filament unloading and loading, automatic multi-head calibration, automatic bed leveling, and more. Combined with parameter adjustment and camera monitoring via the mobile app, you can basically walk away once a print starts. Many of my prints are set up after work and left to run overnight in the office; I just pick up the finished parts the next day, which is incredibly convenient.

    Real-time print progress monitoring via the mobile app

    Snapmaker has a strong following overseas. While searching for tutorials and references, I came across many YouTube creators reviewing and sharing their experiences, and the maker community seems to really appreciate Snapmaker’s high value-for-money products with a distinct design ethos. Interestingly, before the U1 arrived, our office already had an older 3D printer, but few people paid much attention to it. Since getting the U1, however, many colleagues have started asking how to print their own items or proposing product ideas. It really shows that when a printer is efficient and easy to use, it can spark creativity.

    Multicolor products printed with the Snapmaker U1

    The Snapmaker U1 is currently available in stock on JD.com. After national subsidies, prices start at RMB 4,504.15, making it highly competitive in its class. If you’re looking for a low-fuss, high-efficiency desktop color 3D printer, the Snapmaker U1 is definitely worth a look.

    @鲸鱼鱼: Cookie Budget — Lifetime Membership

    • Reference price: RMB 68

    As a long-time SSPAI reader, I feel a certain obligation to tinker with budgeting apps—and to spend money on an app to track how I spend money. After using MoneyWiz and MOZE on and off for several years, I realized my needs are actually very basic: by the end of the month, I just want to know roughly where my money went. For me, these professional, feature-heavy budgeting apps feel a bit “over-specced.” So when I heard that MOZE’s subscription price was about to increase, even though I was reluctant to part with its polish and professionalism, the higher fee made me reconsider whether it was really necessary. That’s when I started looking for a new budgeting app.

    After asking fellow editors and AI for recommendations, I downloaded several budgeting apps to try briefly. Cookie Budget stood out as the one that impressed me the most at first glance. First, its overall design is clean, and the little cookie icon—true to its name—adds a touch of cuteness. Second, Cookie offers a feature specifically for tracking software subscriptions, with support for multiple currencies and automatic entries upon renewal. Subscription management and expense tracking are unified in one place, so there’s no need to jump between apps—perfect for my lazy instincts. Third, in terms of functionality, it covers everything I need, including iCloud sync and basic reports.

    Widgets, icons, and subscription management

    However, as I explored more features, I also noticed some less intuitive design choices. Cookie’s accounting logic differs slightly from MoneyWiz and MOZE. For example, the latter apps use receivables and payables to cover scenarios like loans, reimbursements, and paying on someone else’s behalf. In Cookie, these are split into more specific entry points, such as lending assets, borrowing assets, reimbursement records, or initiating a bill refund to calculate split payments. Take splitting the cost of milk tea with colleagues as an example: in MOZE, one transaction plus a receivable does the job, but in Cookie, you need to record the total first and then handle the split as a refund-based AA collection. The receivable flow feels more roundabout. That said, laziness really is the primary productivity driver—I simply treat all AA receivables as reimbursements. While this sacrifices some statistical granularity, the steps align better with my thinking and feel smoother to use. There’s another limitation in Cookie’s categories as well: a single transaction can’t be assigned to multiple categories. If you buy groceries, household supplies, and toys in one supermarket trip, you have to record three separate transactions in Cookie.

    The reimbursement record and subscription management buttons are also inconsistently placed—one on the left, the other on the right

    In addition, Cookie feels a bit rough around the edges in some details:

    • Expense categories support hierarchies, but all default categories are single-level. Some are very broad, like clothing, food, housing, and transportation, while others—such as water bills, electricity bills, or snacks—really belong at a second level. It takes quite a bit of effort to reorganize everything properly.
    • Subscription information defaults to the “app subscriptions” category, but for convenience I deleted that category and replaced it with a broader “applications & software” category. When creating new subscriptions, however, they still default to the now-nonexistent “app subscriptions” category. I couldn’t find any way to change this default, so I have to manually adjust it every time.
    • The feature hierarchy isn’t very clear, and some actions are hidden away. Subscriptions have auto-recording enabled by default, but there’s no option to toggle this when creating a new subscription. For subscriptions where I want to confirm renewal at expiration, I can only disable auto-recording afterward by going into the subscription details and using the menu in the top-right corner.

    That said, Cookie overall meets my needs and simplifies my workflow for both subscription tracking and general expense logging. The development team has also maintained a steady cadence of one or two updates per month in recent years, continually refining the product. And considering that its lifetime membership price is relatively affordable among budgeting apps, it still feels like a worthwhile investment overall.

    @路中南: Cat Slow Feeder

    • Reference price: RMB 20

    I have two cats at home. The pure-black older one was adopted years ago from a rescue shelter in Shenzhen with Lao Mai, and it’s of the same lineage as the office’s calico cat, Diandian. However, this creature has had one habit unchanged for years: eating far too fast. Perhaps that’s exactly why it’s overweight (7 kg+), and why it occasionally vomits piles of undigested kibble—something that’s become even more frequent in winter. If it happens when no one’s home and the robot vacuum blindly rolls over it, the trouble can be huge. And yes, that did happen to me last month.

    Let’s just call it Black Pig. From its official name “Juanjian,” to the nickname “Little Black,” and finally to the moniker “Black Pig,” it only took about two years. Over those two years, I tried quite a few methods to ease its vomiting (it’s heartbreaking to watch your clumsy eldest vomit): switching to warm water in winter (helpful, but easily contaminated by dust), making a DIY rolling bottle feeder (which it completely ignored, only charging like a pig whenever the automatic feeder dispensed food), and so on. This time, Taobao recommended a cat slow feeder, and after using it for two weeks, here are my thoughts.

    Why is it called a “slow feeder”? Because the cat has to “solve a puzzle” to earn its food reward. Before buying, I read a lot of reviews for similar products, and many negative ones complained that “my cat doesn’t know how to use it,” so the feeder ended up unused. I, however, was full of confidence—and that’s thanks to our second cat, Er Huang. The uniquely named second son, a mischievous spirit cat who purrs the moment you touch his haunches. His “intelligence fur length” (note: the fluffy fur at the tips of a cat’s ears—folklore says its length is directly proportional to a cat’s intelligence) should have no trouble with a level-three difficulty feeder. And sure enough:

    The look a smart cat gives while watching a dumb cat eat

    Comparing the two cats’ behavior, Er Huang uses his paws to flip and dig out the kibble underneath with ease. Black Pig, on the other hand, only knows how to push around with his head. Sometimes he even has to follow the second cat while eating just to get a few bites.

    The confusion of a pig who only knows how to shove with his head (4× speed)

    Either way, Black Pig’s eating speed has slowed down. And because I put more fragrant, tastier domestic cat food in the tray (ad space available here), Black Pig now refuses to eat the diet food from the automatic feeder. Instead, he either sneaks off alone to shove the puzzle tray in search of food, or tails along behind the second cat to eat some leftovers.

    This tray is definitely a “I bought it and I’m OK with it, but I wouldn’t recommend you buy it” kind of product. First, it requires a certain level of feline intelligence. Second, it’s better suited for larger items like freeze-dried treats or snacks, rather than regular kibble. Kibble tends to get stuck in the narrow gaps of the mechanisms, making it hard for cats to retrieve, and over time it also goes stale.

    @JIAJUN: Mickey Paw Mug

    • Reference price: Mickey Paw Mug: ¥129, Pingu Money Tree: ¥79, Mushroom: ¥89

    Sometime last autumn or winter, a gift suddenly appeared on my desk—air-dropped by a colleague. When I opened it and saw Mickey’s little paw, I could only think: wow, this is way too good a gift.

    As a present, it’s a solid 120 out of 100. Perhaps to achieve that adorable paw shape, the mug itself is very large and very heavy. Although the official demo shows two different ways to use it, only after actually trying it did I realize how taxing it is to drink from something with a net weight of 780 g. With the first grip, holding hot water makes your hand feel scalded, and it also feels a bit unstable; with the second, hand-supporting grip, the feel is completely different from a normal mug and hard to get used to. I personally give its practicality a 60 at best, and had no choice but to give up on using it as a daily cup.

    For a while, I couldn’t think of a better use for it, so I put it back in its box and let it lie quietly in a corner.

    After N days, during a major cleanup at home, I felt it would be such a waste to leave something this cute unused. Looking around, I noticed that it fit perfectly with a Pingu money tree I already had at home—turns out it makes a pretty nice flower vase, and I was very satisfied. A few months later, the other unused paw finally found its own plant as well: a mushroom from Furry Forest.

  • New Stuff 230｜What Have the Editors at SSPAI Been Buying Lately?

    New Stuff 230｜What Have the Editors at SSPAI Been Buying Lately?

    @Tp: Inart 1/12 Destined One Deluxe Edition

    • Reference price: ¥608

    After earning the Platinum trophy in Black Myth: Wukong, I’d been hoping that one day I could own a 1/12-scale articulated figure of the Destined One. So when Inart unveiled a gray prototype at an exhibition, I already knew that once it went on sale, I’d definitely pick one up. Only recently—after players who paid in full had already received their figures and enjoyed them for over a month—I finally got the payment notice for my deposit order and received my very own 1/12 Destined One.

    You Truly Delight Me, Little Monkey

    Although I’d previously bought a 1/12 Zhu Bajie, once I got my hands on this Destined One, I still couldn’t help but marvel at the level of detail. Even at a 1/12 scale, it manages to present distinct textures through a mix of hard plastic, soft rubber, and fabric clothing. The armor’s surface details and weathered paintwork are especially refined. There’s even a wire embedded in the tail, allowing you to pose it freely into whatever shape you like.

    To be honest, before buying it I was a bit worried about articulation. Zhu Bajie’s articulation hadn’t been particularly impressive, but this figure exceeded my expectations. In addition to the poseable tail mentioned earlier, the lower body uses a soft rubber armor combined with fabric clothing to avoid restricting hip movement, leaving thigh articulation completely unhindered. To better convey dynamic poses, the forearms include ball joints, and even the feet feature individually articulated joints for the big toe and the other four toes.

    The accessories are also impressively abundant. I went with the Deluxe Edition, which adds a long staff for displaying the “staff stance,” a pair of swinging-staff effect parts, and—most importantly—the monkey head. Compared to the standard version’s head with the “bronze monkey mask,” the look without the headpiece actually better evokes my impression of the Destined One. Among the shared accessories, the weapon “Beast Staff · Ermine” uses a three-section assembly with metal pegs and foolproof design, so there’s little worry about damage. In addition, there’s a Shrinking Talisman and two interchangeable gourds, making the overall play value quite high.

    A Big, Full Box (Even the Accessories Are Packed in Three Layers)

    That said, the weapon itself does have some weight—especially once the effect parts are attached—so you’ll need to spend a bit of time adjusting the wrist joints to keep it from drooping under the load.

    All in all, this Destined One figure exceeded my expectations. While ¥608 admittedly isn’t cheap, compared to some Japanese manufacturers that charge over ¥1,000 RMB for figures that come with only a few extra hands, Inart’s offering feels like excellent value for money.

    @西鸽: Li Auto AI Glasses Livis (Olive Green, Matte, Non-prescription, Sunglasses Lens)

    • Reference price: ¥1,869.15 (after subsidies)

    Colleagues at my company are using various AI glasses, to the point where they’ve practically become everyday office gear. I’d also been curious to try a different brand. It just so happened that Li Auto put the Livis smart glasses on sale, so I quickly picked up a pair and wanted to share my impressions.

    I didn’t watch the launch event and had no idea what features they offered. The next day I checked the official site, thought the glasses looked pretty good, and placed an order. Since I didn’t need prescription lenses, they shipped directly and arrived on the third day. Since these are Li Auto glasses, I naturally wondered whether they would integrate with Li Auto vehicles. I drive a Li ONE—an older model that doesn’t even get system updates anymore—so I didn’t expect full support from a new smart device. After looking into it, though, it turns out there’s basically no support at all.

    First, I assumed there would be a HUD feature. The Li ONE doesn’t have a HUD, so I thought maybe smart glasses could serve as a kind of “physical add-on” for older models. But that’s not the case. What’s a bit funny is that I asked this same question to a Li Auto staffer, Doubao, and Gemini:

    Only Gemini clearly told me that these glasses do not have an in-lens HUD, and even pointed out the gap between product marketing and user understanding. Kind of interesting.

    Of course, being able to see a HUD clearly doesn’t mean the glasses themselves have one. According to the AI, the intended meaning of this marketing point is that wearing the glasses lets drivers see the car’s built-in HUD more clearly—the glasses themselves do not include a HUD.

    So how much linkage is there between the Livis glasses and the Li ONE? Basically none. With the glasses already connected to my phone, I can give voice commands to the glasses, which then pass them to the Li Auto Assistant app on my phone. That app itself already has simple vehicle controls, like unlocking doors or opening windows and the trunk. If I’m outside the car, this just saves me from taking out my phone; if I’m inside the car, it’s not practical at all, because it would trigger both the glasses and the in-car system’s “Li Auto Assistant” at the same time.

    The product page on the official website is also very vague about Li ONE integration—what exactly you can “use immediately” isn’t really explained.

    So it’s pretty clear: if you don’t have an L-series or newer Li Auto vehicle, the Livis glasses are essentially just a smart voice assistant that works with your phone (via the Li Auto Assistant app), plus an independent device with audio recording, music playback (the sound quality is much better than bone-conduction), and photo/video recording.

    The version I bought is the sunglasses model. For office use, it’s fine as a Bluetooth audio device for listening to music and recording, but wearing sunglasses indoors feels odd, which rules out another usage scenario.

    So in the end, let’s just look at the appearance. At the very least, my kids say they look cool. And I do enjoy wearing the Livis while chasing after them and recording videos—it’s a lot more convenient than holding up a phone.

    @Microhoo: DJI Mini 5 Pro

    • Reference price: ¥4,788 (standard kit)

    I’ve always felt that the Mini series is the hidden gem among all DJI drones. Because of DJI’s precise product segmentation—and the fact that many people mistakenly label it as “entry-level”—the Mini lineup ends up landing right at that “good enough” sweet spot. The result is a bit awkward: if you just want to buy a drone to play around with, nearly ¥5,000 isn’t cheap; but if you’re looking for a serious aerial creation tool, its overall strength can feel just a bit short, making it tempting to stretch up to the Air or even the Mavic series.

    With expectations already low, when the Mini 5 Pro was announced I barely glanced at DJI’s official release. I only registered that it had switched to a 1-inch sensor and didn’t look much further. But over the past few months, after seeing countless hands-on experiences shared by creators across different platforms, I slowly pieced together the full picture of what had changed—and suddenly realized that the Mini I’d always wanted had finally arrived.

    For other drone models, I usually recommend going “as complete as possible,” because a real-world flight time of just over twenty minutes passes in the blink of an eye, and extra batteries mean more peace of mind. But since the core appeal of the Mini 5 Pro is its compactness—its footprint is about the size of a smartphone—I actually think the standard kit is perfectly fine. I mainly use it in scenarios like hiking and mountaineering, where minimizing weight is critical. When I come across a great vantage point, I fly it, then toss it back into my bag and plug in a charging cable. Especially since the Mini 5 Pro’s internal storage has been upgraded to 42GB, that’s more than enough for a single trip’s worth of shooting.

    My only real regret is that, even though the screenless remote included in the standard kit is already very lightweight, it’s still an extra thing to carry. Before getting it, I had imagined that the Mini series might be able to fly directly via a phone connection like the Neo, so I could just slip it into my pocket and go. In reality, that’s not possible—you still need the remote. That said, it’s understandable. With the Mini 5 Pro’s new transmission technology, its flight range has improved significantly, and combined with its strong acceleration, using just a phone would probably mean flying out of signal range in the blink of an eye. Still, I hope DJI will consider ultra-lightweight users and add a simplified phone-only control mode in the future, even if it comes with heavily limited range and speed.

    It’s also worth mentioning that while light weight is the Mini 5 Pro’s standout trait, its biggest advantage is actually traveling abroad with it. Multiple generations of the Mini series have kept their weight at 249g not out of obsession, but because under the drone regulations of most countries, drones under 250g are exempt from complicated registration and filing procedures. This is especially true in places like Europe and Japan, which are ideal for aerial sightseeing and often have specific exemptions or simplified processes. This is the main reason I’ve always been drawn to the Mini series. As mentioned earlier, it’s not an entry-level product for beginners at all—instead, it’s a true “all-rounder” suited to most people.

    The two most important upgrades of the Mini 5 Pro are, first, its 50MP 1-inch sensor camera. Almost every user has praised it as a “Pocket 3 that can fly.” I’m not sure whether it’s the same sensor used in the Pocket 3, but after watching some comparison videos, the image quality is strikingly similar. In situations with drastic changes in ambient light and white balance, however, the Mini 5 Pro responds noticeably faster than the Pocket 3—likely thanks to improvements in the new chip’s processing power. Given how well-regarded the Pocket 3 is, I don’t think the Mini 5 Pro’s imaging quality will feel outdated anytime soon, at least until display technology enters its next generation.

    I also took a couple of photos—one outdoors at noon with extreme dynamic range, and one in a pitch-black city scene—just to get a sense of its imaging capabilities.

    The other major upgrade is the “full trickle-down” of obstacle avoidance. Building on the previous generation’s omnidirectional obstacle sensing, the Mini 5 Pro adds a forward-facing LiDAR sensor that was previously reserved for flagship models. This not only improves obstacle avoidance but also makes it effective in low-light environments. That said, I’d still treat it as an emergency measure—when it comes to crashing drones, there are only two outcomes: zero or one. Don’t take chances; always fly carefully.

    Like its predecessor, the Mini 5 Pro supports lossless vertical shooting, and thanks to a greater rotation angle, it can now perform horizon-breaking camera moves similar to those on the Mavic 4 Pro. All of this can be achieved through the built-in one-tap video creation features. Which brings me to my recurring plea: since DJI is already lowering the barrier to entry as much as possible, I really hope they’ll eventually offer a phone-only control option to further reduce what you need to carry in certain scenarios.

    All things considered, the Mini 5 Pro is, in my view, the first truly “complete” small drone. Especially when you factor in regulatory weight limits, its overall capabilities exceed expectations. Compared with other models, it fits into more use cases as well. Unless you’re a commercial aerial photographer, the Mini 5 Pro is an extremely reliable choice. Once I’ve got the time and money, I’ll definitely be taking it out on more trips.

    @Lotta: BlanBunny The Wizard of Oz Tea Book Gift Box

    • Reference price: ¥127

    If you’ve ever wandered through the commercial streets of tourist attractions, you may already be familiar with the brand BlanBunny. Its teal-blue, European-style vintage storefronts, giant rabbit statues wearing top hats, and richly ornate gift boxes often make it one of the most eye-catching shops on the street, tempting passersby to step inside. Even though the relatively high prices often persuade people to leave empty-handed, there’s usually one or two finely made items that end up quietly saved in a wishlist or buried deep in a shopping cart—just waiting for a good deal to trigger an impulse purchase.

    The Wizard of Oz gift box was exactly such a purchase during the Double 11 shopping festival. Inside the box are 10 different teas, two sachets of each, enough to brew 20 cups in total. It includes some sweet-and-tangy fruit and floral teas that I’m not particularly fond of, such as Grape Serenade and Creamy Strawberry Oolong; some pure teas that I do enjoy, like Gardenia Yuhua Tea, Jasmine White Tea, and Osmanthus Oolong; as well as more exotic herbal options, including South African rooibos and mangosteen yerba mate.

    The tea is packaged in a rather distinctive perforated aluminum stick, designed to be brewed by stirring. As you stir, the color of the tea gradually releases into the water, which adds a bit of playful charm to the process. That said, for lighter-flavored teas like Osmanthus Oolong, the infusion does need to steep longer than it would in a standard tea bag.

    Even the most monotonous workdays occasionally need a splash of non-routine color, and that’s exactly what draws me to BlanBunny—their lavish design. Each tea comes with its own illustration and a Wizard of Oz-themed name, and the gift box cover even includes a detachable illustrated booklet and a tea “map.” Compared with Japanese brands that are also known for extravagant packaging—where small candies or sweets can easily cost over a hundred yuan—BlanBunny doesn’t feel overly superficial. In terms of design and visual richness, it’s every bit on par with Japanese brands, making it a great choice as a small gift when meeting friends.