Redmi just debuted an ultra-affordable $42 monitor arm that hides your cables too

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Xiaomi is assembling your desk one cheap piece at a time. First came the monitors, from 24-inch office panels to 4K gaming screens. In July, the Mijia Monitor Light Bar 2 arrived to perch on top of them for about $39. Now Redmi, Xiaomi’s budget sub-brand, has launched the piece that holds the whole thing up, a monitor arm with a hidden cable channel for roughly $42. At this rate, a Xiaomi standing desk is probably already sitting in a spreadsheet somewhere.

The Redmi Monitor Arm went on sale October 12 on Xiaomi Youpin for ¥299 (about $42), and Xiaomi has not announced a US release. It holds screens up to 34 inches, and the body is 3mm aluminum alloy. Xiaomi’s pitch is that cables tuck inside the arm, so your desk shows a single post. A five-year replacement guarantee comes along for the ride, which is a lot of faith at this price. If you have ever fought a monitor arm and zip ties in the same evening, you can see the appeal.

A load range that starts at 4.2 pounds

Redmi rates the arm for 4.2 to 19.8 pounds (1.9 to 9 kg), and the low end is the interesting part. An arm tuned for a heavy screen will push a light one skyward, so a 1.9 kg floor suits the featherweight office panels Xiaomi itself sells. At the other end, 17173 notes a loaded 34-inch ultrawide lands around 8 kg, so the 9 kg ceiling has room. Anything heavier, or anything past 34 inches, needs a different arm. Check your panel’s spec sheet before you click buy.

The lift comes from a dual-spring design, with springs on both sides firing together so the force stays even through the whole 11.8 inches (30 cm) of height travel. Xiaomi says it survived 30,000 test cycles. Chinese outlet Kuai Keji worked that out to about 20 years of use at four adjustments a day, which is a lot of standing up and sitting down. The listing cites a Chinese utility model patent, a lighter registration than a full invention patent. Redmi adds a separate tilt-force adjustment at the VESA head to go after screen sag

Cable routing that hides the mess, mostly

Redmi’s renders show cables running through a channel beneath the arm and down the riser. Only the clamp stays visible on the desk. It echoes the trick behind Calvin Lien’s Console Desk concept, which hid its cabling inside the desk’s spine so the surface stayed clean. The arm adds reach to that job, with 17.1 inches (43.5 cm) of front-to-back travel and a 360-degree screen rotation. The promo shots still show a little cable curling out near the VESA plate, which is fair, because a moving screen needs slack somewhere.

Six years ago, Redmi’s first PC monitor, the Display 1A, launched with nothing to hide its cables, a gap a Polish review called out at the time. Concealed routing is now a headline feature on the company’s own product page. That tells you where desk setups have gone. A channel in the arm means the monitor’s cables follow one path instead of dangling in every direction. Redmi’s version is far simpler than a full desk rebuild, and it only has to live inside one arm.

The ¥299 price and China-only availability

The arm costs ¥299 in China (about $42) and went on sale October 12 through Xiaomi Youpin. The listing shows a struck-through ¥499, but Youpin’s fine print calls that a reference price, so read ¥299 as a launch price rather than a markdown. Notebookcheck points out that pricier ergonomic arms can run up to $350 in the US, which makes $42 look like a typo. A five-year replace-instead-of-repair guarantee comes with it, though the full terms are not spelled out on the page. The currency conversion is approximate.

Compatibility looks friendly, since the VESA plate takes the 75x75mm and 100x100mm patterns that most monitors use. That is the same pair CORSAIR’s Platform:6 desk specs for the arms it ships with, so most panels should line up. Xiaomi has not published a clamp thickness range, so measure your desk edge before you get excited. There is no word on a global release, but Xiaomi often sends its accessories abroad later, sometimes wearing the Xiaomi name. The part holding your screen up has never been the exciting purchase, which is exactly why a $42 version is worth watching.

 

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This 400-Square-Foot Tiny Cabin Has Two Porches and No Loft to Climb

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The Nordic Nook gives its occupants two places to step outside without making either one a trip downstairs. Built by South Carolina’s Sweet-Haus Tiny Cabin Company, this 400-square-foot park model pairs a private bedroom with an open living area and porches at both ends. It’s an available cabin model rather than a concept, with a layout that favors settling in over packing up.

A monoslope roof gives the exterior its defining line, extending over the outdoor spaces. Sweet-Haus specifies LP SmartSide siding, metal roofing, and Trex decking, with optional porch heating. The porches offer somewhere to sit beyond the enclosed footprint, though their usefulness still depends on the weather. Two outdoor spaces also give the bedroom its own exit rather than routing every trip through the living room.

Designer: Sweet-Haus Tiny Cabin Company

Inside, the pictured finish scheme is more domestic than rustic. Muted green cabinetry sits against white horizontal wall paneling, while a wood ceiling supplies the strongest natural texture. Stainless steel appliances interrupt the softer palette without overwhelming it. Cabinetry reaches above the microwave and refrigerator, using the upper wall for storage while leaving the adjacent seating area visually open. The room has color without becoming busy.

The kitchen makes a substantial commitment to everyday cooking. Its equipment includes an oven, four-burner propane stove, microwave, refrigerator/freezer, dishwasher, and a large stainless steel sink. Granite counters and custom cabinetry complete the arrangement, while a breakfast bar seats two. That combination leaves fewer kitchen tasks dependent on improvised workarounds, although the shared cooking and living space means meal preparation remains part of the room’s activity.

The central lounge accommodates a sofa, armchair, and coffee table, with a ceiling fan overhead. Beyond it, the bedroom keeps sleeping on the main floor, with standing headroom, storage, and a sliding glass door opening onto the smaller porch. There’s no sleeping loft to climb into. The bathroom includes a walk-in shower, vanity, and flushing toilet, concentrating the essential facilities without borrowing space from an upstairs sleeping platform.

Sweet-Haus lists a two-zone mini-split system and low-emissivity, argon-filled windows among the standard specifications. Those details establish the equipment package, not independently measured comfort or energy performance. The more immediately legible benefit is spatial: a separate bedroom allows someone to retreat while the main room stays usable. In a home this size, that modest separation can matter more than another decorative flourish or clever folding surface.

The Nordic Nook starts at $137,000, with finishes and upgrades affecting the price. Sweet-Haus also lists a completed example at Trout Stream Cabins for $167,500 plus lot rent, a useful distinction between buying the model and buying a placed home. Its appeal lies in retaining familiar routines within a smaller interior: cooking with proper appliances, sleeping without a ladder, and having another place to sit outside.

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Wedge Coffee Dripper Brews Without Resting on Your Mug’s Rim

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Because I like to experiment with my coffee (for myself for now and not for others), I have a lot of different coffee tools at home. But that also means I have a lot of different sizes of mugs and tumblers. Not all of them fit or are perfect for some of the tools that I use. Coffee drippers are one of the easiest tools to use, but sometimes I don’t want the dripper itself to rest on the rim of the cup or mug that I’m using. It would be nice to have something that is easily adjustable, and that’s where this coffee set from Japan comes in.

The Wedge Coffee Dripper Set by Totetsu Ironworks not only looks great on your kitchen counter but also gives you the freedom to adjust the height of the dripper itself. It has a wedge-operated height adjustment mechanism that lets you make room for different vessels beneath the cone, within the stand’s available clearance.

Designer: Dai Furuwatari

The mechanism to adjust your dripper is not trying to hide itself. It’s part of the beauty of the set, and the arrangement looks pretty straightforward in the maker’s photos. The support ring connects to a collar around the vertical post, and the wedge itself is beside it. Releasing the wedge allows you to reposition the support, while inserting it secures the assembly at the selected height. The cone rests in a circular support above the base, so it doesn’t need to sit on your cup’s rim. The small wedge gives the otherwise simple frame a detail worth noticing.

The cone is made from stainless steel, while the stand uses iron. Both are finished with baked-on Japanese lacquer, known as urushi, which gives the set its dark-brown appearance. In the photos, the cone has a warmer brown tone, with the support looking darker and more textured. The open space underneath the cone is part of the silhouette, and the entire frame is minimalist but adds a certain personality to your coffee counter, so you don’t need to hide it away when it’s not in use. The flat base and slender upright keep the structure visually simple without concealing how it works.

For someone with a collection of different cups, separating the dripper from the receiving vessel is the useful part. The maker shows the set positioned over a glass coffee server, with space between its opening and the cone. You’re adjusting the support to accommodate what’s underneath it rather than relying on the vessel’s rim. That doesn’t mean every tall tumbler will fit, though; the maker doesn’t publish the maximum usable clearance.

The cone also lifts out of the support ring, as shown in the disassembled product photo, so you can handle it separately when cleaning. And although the dripper is stainless steel, this isn’t a filter-free mesh brewer. The maker’s setup uses a paper filter inside the cone. It’s worth keeping that distinction in mind if you’re looking to move away from paper filters entirely.

The lacquer finish does come with some care instructions. Totetsu recommends washing the dripper with dish soap and a soft sponge, avoiding metal scouring pads or other abrasive tools that could scratch the surface. The stand should be wiped with a damp cloth and dried immediately. The maker also recommends periodically applying oil or beeswax to the iron. That’s a little more upkeep to consider if you prefer coffee equipment that requires very little attention between brews.

For me, the appeal would be having another way to arrange my coffee setup without choosing a mug just because it fits a particular dripper. I wouldn’t expect an adjustable stand alone to make my coffee taste better, but I do like the idea of a tool whose workings are visible. The question is whether that flexibility earns another piece of equipment a place on my already busy counter.

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Casio’s Baby Molly Watch Becomes a Bag Charm Without Tools

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While smartwatches have become familiar wearables over the past few years, there’s still an audience out there for analog and digital watches. Character watches in particular appeal to fans of either the watch brand or the collaboration, or both. POP MART has a lineup of characters featured in plushies, blind boxes, pendants, and other collectibles. One of its signature characters is Molly, and if you’d like her on your wrist or your bag, this new collaboration between Casio and POP MART might earn a spot on your Christmas wish list.

The Casio BABY-G x Baby Molly BGD-10KPM-7 is a new collaboration between the two brands, featuring the baby version of Molly, Baby Molly. Aside from letting you wear her character artwork on your wrist, you can also turn this digital watch into a bag charm if that is more your fit of the day. The watch and the accessories that come with it are packed with playful character details that collectors and fans of cute things will appreciate.

Collaboration: Casio x POP MART

The Molly character was created by artist Kenny Wong back in 2006. Baby Molly shows her as a child, complete with blue eyes and chubby cheeks. With this watch, she’s heading off to kindergarten with her equally cute feline best friend, Baby Tabby. The white band depicts the pair on their way to school. The bezel is bright yellow to represent her hair, while activating the light reveals her signature bright blue eyes on the LCD. The LED itself is white; it’s the eyes that appear blue. The case back is engraved with the MOLLY 20th-anniversary logo, adding another detail for longtime fans to appreciate.

There’s also a small surprise tucked away beneath the band. Removing it reveals a graphic resembling Baby Molly’s kindergarten name tag. It’s a nice little detail for the owner to discover, especially since changing how you carry the watch brings it into view.

If you prefer having it as a bag accessory, all you have to do is remove the bezel and pass-through band, then place the center case into the pink custom holder. Both parts can be removed without tools. You can then attach it to your bag, purse, or belt loop, as long as you can access it when you want to know what time it is. The display still works in the holder, so the charm remains a functioning watch.

There are original stickers featuring Baby Molly and Baby Tabby that you can use to decorate the holder for the maximalist in you. Casio recommends keeping decorations off the watch itself and notes that stickers can peel or leave adhesive residue. It comes in special packaging featuring both characters, which gives collectors another piece of artwork to enjoy.

Aside from all these cute things, the watch is still BABY-G through and through. According to Casio, it is shock-resistant, has 10-bar water resistance, and offers approximately three years of battery life. It has all the usual digital watch functions, including world time across 29 time zones and 30 cities, a stopwatch, a countdown timer, five daily alarms, and LED illumination. The resin case measures 42.8 × 39 × 14.7 mm, and the watch weighs 33 grams. Mineral glass protects the display, and the supplied band fits wrists measuring 125–180 mm.

The watch-to-charm idea isn’t new to this collaboration. Casio introduced the original BGD-10K in May 2024, so the Baby Molly edition builds on an existing design. Here, the character artwork and eye reveal give that familiar setup its own personality.

Casio lists a November 2026 release in Japan at ¥16,500, including Japanese tax. U.S. pricing and availability aren’t specified in that listing, so American fans may need to wait for more information before making definite holiday shopping plans.

The appeal is having a collectible you can actually use, with a choice of where to wear it. A bag charm may take a little more effort to check than a wristwatch, but if your wrist is already occupied, Baby Molly still has somewhere to go.

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