6 Costco Gadgets Under $25 That Are Actually Worth Buying

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Costco is a retail warehouse that has won over customers for many reasons. When you shop at Costco, you save money compared to other stores. Kind of. You technically spend a ton of money up front because you are often buying items in bulk — and because you need a membership to shop there. But you are still saving cash in the long run thanks to economies of scale. If you're looking to pay less per unit, Costco is the place for you.

While many people rely on Costco for their grocery and clothing needs, plenty of shoppers buy electronics through the outlet. It doesn't matter if you're purchasing a soundbar or a large pack of smart lights. These items are generally cheaper when compared to other stores. However, they can still be somewhat expensive. A 75" QLED Smart TV is still going to run you several hundred dollars. That doesn't mean you can't find extremely inexpensive gadgets at Costco, just that you have to scour their physical shelves and digital storefronts with a fine-toothed comb. Or you can just read this article to find these worthwhile products. We dove into Costco's website to find handy gadgets at good prices that customers rated an average of 4.0 stars or better out of 5.0. 

When you think of a modern gadget, your mind probably jumps to inexpensive electronics you can plug into USB ports or a smart mini-fridge reserved for your sodas, beers, and energy drinks. However, you don't necessarily need a microchip and a Wi-Fi connection to maintain the temperature of your beverages.

The ThermoFlask Standard 12oz Can Cooler is, as its name suggests, an insulated cup designed to keep your drinks cool. Each cooler fits a regular 12-oz soda can, but thanks to its design, it can also work as an insulated cup. And the ThermoFlask Can Cooler runs on pure thermodynamics instead of batteries, so it can keep your drinks nice and chilled for hours, then go straight into the dishwasher.

While only 12 customers have reviewed the product on Costco's site, those reviews are overwhelmingly positive, averaging 4.9 stars out of 5.0. Buyers say the devices work like a charm, but there is a learning curve to inserting soda cans into them. If you don't push down hard enough, your drinks won't lock in place. Costco sells the ThermoFlask Standard 12oz Can Cooler in a two-pack for $24.99.

While we just went over a gadget that works without a power source, those kinds of products are in the minority. These days, more and more items require batteries to function, and if they don't have built-in batteries, you often have to supply your own. Thankfully, Costco offers them in bulk.

Costco sells all manner of non-rechargeable alkaline batteries, including its own line of Kirkland batteries. While there's nothing wrong with those items, many customers attest that Duracell Coppertop Alkalines are a superior choice. With an overall 4.5 out of 5.0 star rating from over 1,900 reviews, customers appreciate Duracell's robust performance and reliability, as well as the bulk pricing Costco provides.

Out of all of Costco's battery bundles, the 40-count AA pack has the highest reviews. At $20.99, many customers agree that you can't find a better deal on batteries — the cheaper Kirkland AAs notwithstanding. Moreover, Costco claims its Duracell packs can last up to 12 years, so you don't have to worry about using them quickly. However, a word of warning: Some customers have reported that a few batteries in their bundles have been defective or have leaked. They are in the minority, but if you buy these batteries, testing them out before relying on them in an important device might be a good idea.

Most gadgets and devices aren't waterproof, so if you get them wet, you might break them. According to this line of logic, the bathroom is the last place you would ever want a smart scale or similar device, yet there is a thriving industry built around producing useful bathroom gadgets, and Costco sells some of these items.

Costco doesn't sell many bathroom scales (online, at least), but it does sell the EatSmart Precision CalPal Digital Bathroom Scale. This gadget advertises its functions in its name. The EatSmart scale can accurately track the weights of up to four people and estimate their BMIs. More importantly, this bathroom gadget can estimate how many calories someone needs to eat to maintain their weight.

As you can probably guess, you could hypothetically lose weight by eating less than EatSmart's caloric recommendations. And you'd be right. Mostly. Some customers claim that this digital scale helps them with their diets, but others say its calorie estimates are inaccurate. Regardless, if you want to buy the EatSmart Precision CalPal Digital Bathroom Scale, either as a replacement or to help you track your weight for health reasons, you can score it at Costco, where it earns a 4.3-star average across 80 reviews, for $24.99.

Every Costco store carries a huge variety of items because, well, Costco is all about huge. The warehouses are so Brobdingnagian that they may even sell items you never knew about. And we don't just mean smart home electronics like portable air conditioners and robot litter boxes. You can visit opticians and optometrists at Costco stores and purchase the glasses they make.

Glasses are a necessity for many people, especially as they grow older. Even if you don't end up needing glasses to go about your day, you might still need them to read books (and e-books), and Costco has plenty for sale. The store sells a variety of reading glasses multipacks, one of which is from Design Optics by Foster Grant. Currently, the Eric Blue Light 2-pack is the most popular and best-reviewed, partially because it is advertised to reduce the amount of blue light your eyes receive from devices and screens by 30%. But if that's not to your liking, Costco also stocks other varieties, including a Cateye three-pack and a Metal Square three-pack.

Many users praise the Design Optics reading glasses due to their effectiveness and lightweight design. However, that latter aspect is a double-edged sword, as many customers report that the items are fragile. The two-packs, including the Eric Blue Light model, cost $18.99, which comes to about $9.50 per pair. However, the three-packs are only a buck more at $19.99, which is $6.66 per pair. Across the three products, customers give solid average ratings of 4.1 to 4.4 stars over hundreds of reviews. 

Costco sells plenty of smart products, most of which are designed from the ground up to connect to your Wi-Fi and learn about your habits. If you want your heater or humidifier to become smart, you will have to buy a new one, but if you want a smart lamp, you only need to buy special bulbs at Costco.

The Feit Electric Wi-Fi Smart Bulbs are a set of replacement bulbs that put out a maximum of 800 lumens. As they are smart bulbs, these light fixtures have all the bells and whistles one might expect, including changeable colors and optional timers, all controlled through an app or with Alexa or Google Assistant.

Costco customers love the Feit Electric smart bulbs for a variety of reasons, primarily their features and ease of use. They have earned an average of 4.2 stars across 4,800 reviews. They don't even need proprietary apps like Philips Hue. However, if your Wi-Fi goes down for any reason, you will have to set up these lightbulbs all over again. Plus, according to some buyers, the bulbs might disconnect from your Wi-Fi network for seemingly no reason. Still, if these bulbs have piqued your interest, Costco sells them in a four-pack for $24.99.

Smart kitchens are all the rage. Who wouldn't want an air fryer (like the Dreo ChefMaker) that gives newbie chefs a helping hand via cooking programs? However, you don't always need such devices to make meals — especially if you want to save money at Costco.

The company Dash sells a variety of kitchen appliances, but it is probably best known for its waffle irons. You can buy the Dash Disney Mickey & Friends No-Drip Waffle Maker for $19.97 at Costco. Unlike many waffle irons, this product can cook four small waffles at once, and as you can likely guess, each is emblazoned with the face of one of four Disney mascots: Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Goofy. So what makes this waffle maker no-drip? It includes a small reservoir on each side of the waffle plates that allows for overflow. That way, any batter that is normally wasted by pouring too much gets turned into an edible rod of golden-brown goodness.

Currently, the Dash Disney Mickey & Friends No-Drip Waffle Maker has a 4.4 out of 5-star rating from 61 reviewers. Many customers say the item works as advertised and that the four waffle trays speed up the cooking process. However, cleaning the product has a bit of a learning curve. Also, a few users reported an ammonia odor, while others claimed they received defective products. 

Costco isn't just a place where you save money — any Dollar General or Lot Stop can do that. People shop at Costco because its discounts, whether they be from membership benefits or buying in bulk, don't sacrifice quality. After scouring the store for items priced at $25 or less, we analyzed how useful each one was and which items offered the most value for the few dollars they cost.

After we compiled a list of gadgets Costco sells for under $25, it was time to review customer reviews and remove the items buyers didn't like. Inexpensive items that customers dislike are rarely worth buying. Anything that didn't meet an average 4.2 rating from multiple reviews was disqualified. However, there were so many batteries, phone cases, and reading glasses sets that fit the criteria that we could have made an entire article out of all their options, so we decided to cut it down to one entry per product type and focused on the item with the best score and most reviews out of the bunch.