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Fitness is (thankfully) no longer about attaining some aesthetic ideal. It helps us sleep better, have more energy and avoid burnout — salutary things for all humans, but particularly for college students. Engadget staffers include workout fiends, avid cyclists, a Judo blackbelt and a certified marathon coach, so we’ve reviewed and covered a wide expanse of fitness tech. For this guide, we’re calling out gear that makes the most sense for students who need help improving their overall health without gobbling up too much time, space or money.

Fitbit Charge 5

Smartwatches are basically tiny computers on your wrist, which can be overkill when all you want to do is track your runs and heart rate. Fitness trackers are cheaper, have longer lasting batteries and tend to be lighter on your wrist. Our current favorite is the Fitbit Charge 5 thanks to its thin design that still boasts a full-color OLED display. It has an EDA sensor to keep tabs on your stress levels and on-board GPS tracking for runs, hikes and bike rides without your phone present. Plus, it can last for over two days on a charge with the always-on display enabled and five days with it off, so if you forget to charge it between classes and late-night cram sessions, it’s no big deal.

Apple Watch Series 8

If you do want a tiny computer on your wrist, we think the Apple Watch Series 8 has the best blend of fitness-centered features and smartwatch utility. It’s currently our favorite smartwatch and has sensors to track your heart rate, sleep, ovulation and EKG measurements. The Workout app has countless modes and will soon include more advanced cycling workouts.

Our deputy editor Cherlynn Low tried out the Series 8 for a week when it first came out and called it a “superb watch” with “excellent health and fitness tools.” Plus, it puts all of your iPhone’s alerts on your wrist, so you’ll never miss an important email from a professor or a reminder to finish your paper that’s due tomorrow. At nearly $400, it’s an expensive investment but one that will last. My Apple Watch 4 is still going strong and will even be eligible for the upcoming WatchOS 10 update this fall, five years after it was released.

Of course, if you don’t use an iPhone, an Apple Watch doesn’t make a lot of sense. For Android users, we recommend the Galaxy Watch 5 from Samsung because it’s a reliable wearable with comprehensive fitness and smart capabilities that rival Apple’s smartwatch.

Eufy Smart Scale P2 Pro

Getting healthy is not about the number on a scale, but you can use that number as one way to monitor your progress towards your fitness goals. One of our favorite smart scales on the market, the Smart Scale P2 Pro by Eufy tracks not just pounds and kilos, but also your heart rate, BMI, and muscle and bone mass. It can even detect things like your basal metabolic rate and offers a bevy of stats and data in its companion app. Despite being one of the more feature-rich scales we tested, the P2 Pro typically comes in around $80, which should make it affordable for students on a budget.

Theragun Mini

This gadget shows up in many of our gift guides because it’s such an excellent self care item. After a hard workout, the Theragun Mini can ease some soreness. Our UK bureau chief, Mat Smith, who does five HIIT and/or weight training classes per week, finds that it works nearly as well as Theragun’s much pricier Elite flagship percussive therapy gun. The triangle shape of the Mini is small enough to control with one hand so you can easily direct the massage. While it’s not exactly quiet, Theragun’s latest motors tamp down the noise a bit so you’ll annoy your roommates slightly less when you put it to work.

TriggerPoint Foam Massage Ball

Mat is also a fan of TriggerPoint’s Foam Massage Ball and recommends it in his fitness recovery guide. The rigid balls can be used nearly anywhere you feel tight or sore. You can stick them on a yoga mat and roll over them to target places on your shoulders and glutes, or roll them between your back and the wall to ease tightness. They come in different sizes and firmness levels as well: the smaller ones are better for the muscles like your calves, and the larger versions are best used for bigger areas like your hips. Since they’re more compact than foam rollers, they should be easy to stash in cramped apartment closets or dorm room storage spaces.

Hatch Restore 2

With sleep and health being so intertwined, I’d be remiss not to mention the Hatch Restore 2 here. I tested it for many weeks and found it helped me get to sleep faster and woke me up more gently than any alarm I’ve used. It’s a sleep machine and sunrise alarm in one, relying on a vast library of original content to help you get better rest. The sleep stories are relaxing and the ambient music is perfect for nodding off to. A variety of white, pink and brown noises can play all night if you want them to, and there’s even motivational morning stretches and talks to get you going. The caveat is the price: it’s $200 for the unit and $5 each month for the membership — but if a new living situation, noisy roommates or the stress of coursework has you struggling to get a good night’s sleep, it could be worth it.

Beats Fit Pro

If you like your AirPods for studying and daily listening but want something designed to handle movement and sweat, check out the Beats Fit Pro. They’re our top recommendation for workout earbuds in our guide thanks to their balanced sound that delivers plenty of hard-hitting, butt-motivating beats. The wing helps them stay in place and they’re surprisingly comfortable, according to our audio expert and senior news editor Billy Steele. Despite being made by Apple, there’s a good amount of support for Android devices as well, but they are a little pricey at $200. For something more budget-friendly, check out the Jabra Elite 4 Active; we recommend them in our workout headphones guide and they usually sell for around $100.

Alo Moves

Being in school can make it tough to fit in a trip to the gym, even if you have one on campus. Fitness apps make it easy to squeeze in a workout wherever it makes sense — most don’t require much beyond a small square of space and maybe a mat. One app we prefer for workouts like yoga, pilates and barre is Alo Moves. It’s a little pricier than others at $20 per month, but offers a huge and ever-updating cache of workouts, with options to choose sessions based on duration, difficulty and intensity. For consistency (and to eliminate decision fatigue), you can try different "series" made up of similar workouts to do over a few days or weeks. Alo Moves also includes meditation classes, which could come in handy when class, or life in general, gets overwhelming.

Apple Fitness+

For those with an iPhone, Apple Fitness+ is a little cheaper than Alo Moves at $10 per month. It also has a wider variety of classes to choose from, with yoga, HIIT, dance, kickboxing and at least eight more categories available. I like to stick with a particular instructor for a while before moving on to someone else. There’s great interplay between the classes and the playlist, no doubt thanks to Apple’s expanding music rights. Class durations range from 5 to 45 minutes, so you can get in a quick workout in between classes or carve out time for longer sessions. You don’t have to have an Apple Watch to use Fitness+ either, but the on-screen, real-time stats like heart rate and burn zones can be pretty motivating.

Strava

Running, hiking and cycling are perfect low-cost, high-return workouts that can actually help you get to know the areas outside your campus. Strava’s app not only tracks your stats, but there’s also a robust social feature that can help keep you motivated, particularly when you challenge others. Our weekend editor, Igor Bonifacic, said using the app helped him realize he was steadily improving as a cyclist — even when it sometimes felt like he wasn’t. Recording your rides and runs is free, as is access to the social network and use of the Beacon safety feature that lets you share your location with another person during your activities. Other features, like goal setting and route planning, require a subscription that’s currently $12 per month or $80 annually.

Amazon Prime Day is typically a boon for storage deals. Aside from the holiday shopping season, it's one of the best times of the year to pick up a new microSD card for your Nintendo Switch, an SSD for your PS5 or a portable drive to take with you on your next excursion. This year's Prime Day is no exception as many of our favorite SSDs, microSD cards and portable drives have been deeply discounted for the shopping event. We culled the deals to find the best ones on our favorite storage gear — in other words, the best Prime Day SSD, microSD card and portable drive deals you can get.

Samsung Pro Plus microSD card

The top pick in our best microSD cards guide, Samsung's Pro Plus in 256GB is on sale for $20 right now. It had some of the best overall speeds of any of the microSD cards we tested, and it has all of the important ratings that a good card should have: U3, V30 and A2. It'll be a great pick for your tablet, smartphone or Nintendo Switch, and it comes with a full-sized adapter in case you need to use it with a camera or connect it to your computer.

Kingston Canvas Go Plus microSD

Kingston's Canvas Go Plus microSD card has dropped to $23 for Prime Day. It's the runner-up pick in our guide thanks to its solid speeds, U3, V30 and A2 ratings and lifetime warranty.

Samsung Evo Select microSD

Samsung's Evo Select microSD card has dropped to $10 for Prime Day. It's a step behind the top pick in our microSD card guide, mostly due to its slower sequential write speeds, but it's arguably the best value microSD card you can get right now.

SanDisk Nintendo Switch microSD

SanDisk's officially licensed Nintendo Switch microSD card is on sale for $23 for Prime Day. While you don't have to use a licensed card like this in your Nintendo Switch, it's nice to have for die-hard fans and it's an easier buy when discounted like this. We found this card to have fast read/write speeds and we appreciate its lifetime warranty.

Lexar Professional 1066x microSD

The Lexar Professional 1066 microSD card has dropped to $14 for Prime Day. It's a good alternative to our top pick in our microSD card guide, even if its overall speeds are a bit slower.

Samsung T7 Shield

The Samsung T7 Shield SSD has been discounted to $75 for Prime Day. The T7 series as a whole includes some of our favorite SSDs, and the Shield is the most durable of the bunch. The portable drive has an IP65 rating for water and dust resistance, and it can withstand drops from up to 10 feet high. On top of that, its 1,050/1,000 MB/s read/write speeds should be enough for most people's needs.

Samsung T7

The Samsung T7 drive has dropped to $70 for Prime Day. If you don't need the extra protection that the Shield has, the standard T7 is a good option. It has the same read/write speeds as the Shield, and it comes with both a USB-C and USB-A cable in the box, so you'll be able to use it with nearly any gadget you have.

Crucial X8

The Crucial X8 portable drive is on sale for $70 right now. It supports read speeds up to 1,050 MB/s and drop protection from up to 7.5 feet. It also comes with a USB-A adapter for its included USB-C cable, so you can use it with a variety of devices.

Corsair MP600 Pro LPX

The top pick in our best PS5 SSDs guide, the Corsair MP600 Pro LPX drive is on sale for $68 right now. It checks all the boxes you'd want in a good drive for your console: it's fast, with read speeds of up to 7,100MB/s, it comes with a pre-installed heatsink and it's protected by a five-year warranty. Plus, it's not the most expensive drive to begin with, which makes it a great value — especially when on sale like this.

Crucial MX500

Crucial's MX500 internal drive has been discounted to $48 for Prime Day. It has sequential read speeds of 560MB/s and a standard 2.5-inch design that should make it easy to swamp in for your desktop's or laptop's used-up drive.

Crucial P5 Plus

The Crucial P5 Plus SSD is on sale for $54 for Prime Day. It's already our favorite affordable SSD for the PS5, so it's an even better buy when you can get it at a discount. It has read speeds of up to 6,600MB/s and the main downside to it is that you'll need to provide and install your own heatsink to get it to work with Sony's console.

Samsung 980 Pro

Samsung's 980 Pro SSD has dropped to $50 for Prime Day. It's another good option for the PS5, especially since you can spring for a model with an included heatsink if you want. The 980 Pro has read speeds up to 7,000 MB/s and reliable thermal controls.

PNY XLR8

PNY's XLR8 SSD is down to $80 for Prime Day. This model was designed with the PS5 in mind, so it's ready to install with its included heatsink. It supports up to 7,500 MB/s sequential read speeds and it's available in up to 4TB sizes.

WD Black SN850X

WD Black's SN850X is on sale for $128 right now. It has the right read/write speeds to be a good option for the PS5, plus you can get it (or it's slightly slower counterpart, the SN850) with a heatsink included.

Crucial P2

The Crucial P2 SSD has dropped to $62 for Prime Day. It's a solid, affordable option if you're looking for an internal SSD, thanks to its sequential read speeds of up to 2,400 MB/s.

Your Prime Day Shopping Guide: See all of our Prime Day coverage. Shop the best Prime Day deals on Yahoo Life. Follow Engadget for the best Amazon Prime Day tech deals. Learn about Prime Day trends on In the Know. Hear from Autoblog’s car experts on must-shop auto-related Prime Day deals and find Prime Day sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.

Anker is known for its premium charging products, but you do pay for the extra quality. Now for Prime Day, you can grab a number of Anker chargers and other accessories at Amazon with discounts of up to 50 percent. Among the list of deals (including featured deals) are the 10,000 mAh Anker Magnetic Battery (MagGo) for iPhones (55 or 31 percent off), the Nano 3 USB-C GaN 30W 511 charger ($25 or 35 percent off) and a two-pack of USB-C 100W charging cables for MacBook Pros, now down to $13 or 19 percent off the regular price. 

The Anker 633 Magnetic Battery (MagGo) has a small kickstand attachment, and since it sticks to your iPhone while charging, it also doubles as a phone stand. This one's a bit smaller than the 737 Power Bank and has a 10,000mAh battery capacity with a 20W USB-C power delivery port for fast charging times. Unlike past sales, the other colors (blue and white) are also on sale at the same $55 price, giving your more options to match up with your style. 

Meanwhile, Anker's 30W 511 (Nano 3) is a good pick because it’s compact, foldable and has ActiveShield 2.0, an improvement on Anker’s temperature-monitoring technology. In brief, it means that the charger will keep an eye on its temperature to prevent overheating or damaging your device while it’s powering up. It has more than enough wattage to charge your Apple Watch quickly and efficiently, and enough to fast-charge your iPhone whenever you need to switch off and use it for that.

If you need powerful charging cables, the Anker 333 USB-C to USB-C six-foot, 100W cables for MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, Samsung Galaxy S23 and other models are on sale in a two-pack for just $13, a savings of 19 percent over the regular price. There are many other deals on power banks, magnetic chargers, USB-C chargers and more — to see them, check out Anker's Prime Day landing page or its featured deals page. 

Your Prime Day Shopping Guide: See all of our Prime Day coverage. Shop the best Prime Day deals on Yahoo Life. Follow Engadget for the best Amazon Prime Day tech deals. Learn about Prime Day trends on In the Know. Hear from Autoblog’s car experts on must-shop auto-related Prime Day deals and find Prime Day sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.

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Amazon’s latest Prime Day sale includes a handful of deals on notebooks we like, from MacBooks to Chromebooks to gaming laptops. We still recommend buying directly from your manufacturer of choice if you want to spec out your new machine, but if you’re OK with buying a pre-configured model, here are the best Prime Day laptop deals we can find. Note that you'll need to be an Amazon Prime member to see some of the discounts. 

Apple MacBook Air M2 (15-inch)

The 15.3-inch version of Apple’s MacBook Air M2 is down to $1,399 for a configuration with 8GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. That’s a modest $50 drop from its usual price on Amazon, but the notebook only just arrived last month, and it's $100 less than buying from Apple directly. The M2 Air is the top pick in our guide to the best laptops, and we gave it a review score of 96 in June. It checks just about all the requisite boxes for a mainstream notebook, with a thin and light design, bright and accurate display, comfortable keyboard, long-lasting battery, and more than enough performance for everyday use. This 15-inch model has all the same benefits of the prior 13-inch model, but adds a more powerful speaker system and slightly upgraded GPU alongside the bigger screen.

Apple MacBook Air M1

The M1 MacBook Air released back in 2020, but it remains a worthy option if you want a Mac for light work and web browsing for as little cash as possible. The entry-level configuration is now on sale for $750, which is a new low. Apple sells this device for $999, though we’ve seen it go for $799 for most of the past few months. This model’s keyboard, trackpad, display and battery life continue to impress, and the quiet M1 chip is still fast enough for the essentials. This configuration is strictly for casual use, though, as it only has 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD. You’ll have to live with a more basic 720p webcam, too, and you’ll miss out on the improved speakers and slimmer bezels of the M2 model. We gave the M1 Air a review score of 94 at launch.

Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2

The Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2 is down to $469 for a version with a Core i5-1135G7 processor, 8GB of RAM and 256GB SSD. That’s a new low and about $150 less than usual. If you’re willing to trade some power for a more premium look and feel, the Surface Laptop Go 2’s lightweight frame is nicer than most laptops we see in this price range. Its battery life is strong, too. The specs here are only suitable for lighter use, and the 12.4-inch, 1,536 x 1,024 resolution display is short of full HD. There’s no keyboard backlight, either. But those shortcomings should be easier to accept at this price. We gave the Surface Laptop Go 2 a score of 86 last year and highlight it in our guide to the best cheap Windows laptops.

Microsoft Surface Laptop 5

The 15-inch Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 is down to $1,680 for a high-end model with a Core i7-1255U, 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD. That’s about $370 below its typical street price. We can’t say this is the best Windows laptop you can buy, as the port selection is lacking, the 720p webcam is mediocre and there are more performant notebooks in this price range. Still, the slim and tasteful design, crisp 3:2 display, and respectable battery keep this a fine general-purpose option for those who like the Surface design language. We reviewed the 13.5-inch Surface Laptop 5 late last year, giving it a score of 83.

Microsoft Surface Pro 9

The Surface Pro 9 is the top Windows pick in our tablet buying guide, and a configuration that includes a Core i7-1255U processor, 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD is now on sale for $1,600. Clearly, that’s not cheap, but it’s $300 off this model's recent street price and represents the lowest price we’ve tracked for this variant. You probably know where you stand on the Surface Pro at this point: It’s still not particularly comfortable to use on your lap, but it remains the gold standard for 2-in-1s that behave and perform like a laptop more than a traditional tablet. While this version isn’t a huge shake-up, it should be a nice bump for those upgrading from a three- to five-year-old model. Just note that this deal doesn’t include a keyboard or stylus.

Acer Nitro 5

The Acer Nitro 5 is the runner up pick in our guide to the best budget gaming laptops, and right now a configuration with a Core i5-12500H, GeForce RTX 3050 Ti, 144Hz 1080p display, 16GB of RAM and 512GB is available for $780. That’s a new low and roughly $120 off this model’s typical street price. This is a chunky plastic machine, and you’ll need to ratchet down the settings in certain games to hit a decent frame rate. But getting a 144Hz display and enough power to keep up with modern games is a plus at this price. As an affordable yet competent entry point to PC gaming, it’s a fine value.

Razer Blade 15

A configuration of the Razer Blade 15 with a Core i7-12800H processor, GeForce RTX 3070 Ti GPU, 240Hz QHD display, 16GB of RAM and 1TB SSD is down to $1,923 for Prime Day. That’s about $375 off its usual street price in recent months. We gave the Blade 15 a review score of 86 last year, and we currently recommend it as a premium pick in our guide to the best gaming laptops. This config is a 2022 model – the latest version is largely a spec bump – but it’ll still be powerful enough to play most modern games at high settings and frame rates, particularly with DLSS. The main reason to pay the premium for any Blade laptop, though, is because it packs that power in a slim and premium-feeling aluminum design. Just note that it can run hot, and that its battery life is fairly short.

If you want a larger 17-inch display, a version of the Blade 17 with similar specs is available for $2,000. The smaller Blade 14, meanwhile, is more modestly discounted at $2,300 for a 2022 config with a Ryzen 9 6900HX, RTX 3080 Ti and 165Hz display.

Your Prime Day Shopping Guide: See all of our Prime Day coverage. Shop the best Prime Day deals on Yahoo Life. Follow Engadget for the best Amazon Prime Day tech deals. Learn about Prime Day trends on In the Know. Hear from Autoblog’s car experts on must-shop auto-related Prime Day deals and find Prime Day sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.

Amazon Prime Day is upon us and a number of our favorite gadgets are on sale. Since its inception, Prime Day has been one of the best times of the year to pick up headphones, tablets, smartwatches and other tech gear at record-low prices — if you're a Prime member, of course. Prime Day deals on tech are typically only matched by Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals, so now's a good time to pick up any devices you've had your eye on while they're deeply discounted. Make no mistake, Prime Day brings a plethora of deals that are not worth your time (much less your money), but we've culled Amazon's site to find the best tech deals you can get this time around. Here are the best Amazon Prime Day deals on gadgets and gear that you can get for 2023.

Apple AirPods Pro

Apple's second-generation AirPods Pro are on sale for $199 for Prime Day. These buds are a huge improvement over their predecessors, offering improved sound quality, ANC and transparency mode. We still consider these to be the best earbuds for iPhone users thanks to their Apple-specific features like quick pairing and switching and hands-free Siri.

Apple AirPods (3rd Generation)

Apple's third-generation AirPods are back down to the lowest price we've seen them for Prime Day — going to $140 from $169. The 17 percent discount is just another reason to buy these AirPods, with a slew of features updating them from their predecessor. The third-gen AirPods come with personalized spatial audio, up to six hours of continuous listening time, and 30 hours of use with the charging case. Plus, they're great for working out — or a nice frolic in the rain — with the AirPods and the charging case being sweat and water-resistant.

Apple AirPods (2nd Generation)

The latest AirPods might have a few extra bells and whistles, but the second-generation Apple AirPods are a great choice for $90. They're currently $39 off their sticker price of $129 for Prime Day, the lowest we've seen them in a while. This model mirrors its successor in having an H1 chip, Siri, automatic switching between devices and a lightning charging case. The biggest consideration is battery life, with these AirPods offering five hours of uninterrupted use and over 24 hours with the charging case. If you're looking for AirPods for your commute or walks, the $50 price difference makes the second-gen AirPods a solid option.

Apple Watch Series 8

The Apple Watch Series 8 is the brand’s latest flagship wearable and usually sells for $399 for the 41mm GPS model. Prime Day brings it down to $280, which is $120 off its regular price. The Series 8 is our top pick in our guide to smartwatches because it combines detailed health and fitness tracking with seamless iPhone integration. New features include temperature sensors, ECG and blood oxygen readings, crash detection, and improved sleep metrics. The upcoming WatchOS 10 will bump the utility even more with widgets plus expanded health, fitness and mindfulness features.

Apple Watch SE

The Apple Watch SE is a great option for anyone who wants to try out the brand's wearables without spending too much. Plus, with a 20 percent discount for Prime Day, it's down from $250 to $200 — enough to buy a great Apple watch accessory to go with it. The second-generation Apple Watch SE has many of the same beloved features of the Series 8, including crash detection, water resistance, heart-rate monitoring and notifications. The 40mm watch face is available in Midnight, Silver and Starlight. 

Apple 10.9-inch iPad

The latest 64GB Apple iPad is touting a 15 percent discount this Prime Day, bringing it from $449 to $380. This is the lowest we've seen it and a good $20 lower than the 10th-generation iPad's typical sale price. The 10.9-inch Liquid Retina display model comes with 4K video, a 12MP Wide camera, 5G connectivity and a USB-C connector. It also uses an A14 Bionic and is compatible with the first-generation Apple Pencil. If you want a device with more storage, the 256GB Apple iPad is also on sale — dropping to $530 from $599.  

Apple iPad mini

A smaller tablet like the iPad mini can do a lot of what your phone can while giving you more screen real estate. For Prime Day, Apple’s diminutive slate is $379 instead of its usual $499. We gave the mini an 89 in our review because of its fresh design and solid performance. It also pairs nicely with the second generation Apple Pencil, turning the mini into a portable digital notebook.

Apple 10.2-inch iPad

Apple's 9th-generation iPad is down to $249, which a record low. It’s the budget pick in our guide to the best iPads. Though it doesn’t have the thin bezels and as much accessory support as our favorite, the iPad Air, it's the most affordable way to snag an iPad. It’s a great couch companion that performs well for casual browsing, binge streaming and light gaming. The latest (10th) generation of Apple’s standard iPad in the 64GB size is down to $379 after a $70 discount, which is another record low. It’s got a slightly larger screen and a newer chip (though not Apple’s own M-series silicon). The latest gen also ditches the home button, which is nice, but does away with the headphone jack, which isn’t as great.

Sony WH-1000XM5

Our current favorite pair of wireless headphones, Sony's WH-1000XM5 are down to $328 for Prime Day. It's the total package that combines great audio quality with excellent ANC and a comfy fit to make a pair of headphones you'll be able to wear all day long if you wish. It also supports multipoint connectivity and a 30-hour battery life.

Bose QuietComfort 45

The Bose QuietComfort 45 headphones have dropped to a new low of $199 for Prime Day, which is a whopping $130 off their usual price. These cans earned a spot in our best wireless headphone guide thanks to their comfortable, if a little dated, design, excellent ANC and balanced audio.

Google Pixel Buds Pro

Google's flagship wireless earbuds, the Pixel Buds Pro, are down to $139 for Prime Day, a new all-time low. Google took all of the lessons it learned when making previous earbuds and got a lot of things right with the Pixel Buds Pro. These will be great for Android users who want buds with punchy bass, good ANC, reliable touch controls and wireless charging.

Amazon Kindle

The standard Kindle is already Amazon’s most affordable ereader and Prime Day drops it down to $65 from its usual $100 price tag, which is a new all-time low. This latest model saw a lot of improvements when it was updated in 2022. Capacity was doubled to 16GB and the screen resolution jumped up to 300 ppi for much clearer text. We named it the best budget option in our ereader guide because its perfect entry point to reading and borrowing ebooks and audiobooks.

Samsung Pro Plus microSD

The top pick in our best microSD cards guide, Samsung's Pro Plus in 256GB is on sale for $20 right now. It had some of the best overall speeds of any of the microSD cards we tested, and it has all of the important ratings that a good card should have: U3, V30 and A2. It'll be a great pick for your tablet, smartphone or Nintendo Switch, and it comes with a full-sized adapter in case you need to use it with a camera or connect it to your computer.

Samsung Evo Select microSD

Samsung's Evo Select microSD card has dropped to $10 for Prime Day. It's a step behind the top pick in our microSD card guide, mostly due to its slower sequential write speeds, but it's argubly the best value microSD card you can get right now.

Samsung T7 Shield

The Samsung T7 Shield SSD has been discounted to $75 for Prime Day. The T7 series as a whole includes some of our favorite SSDs, and the Shield is the most durable of the bunch. The portable drive has an IP65 rating for water and dust resistance, and it can withstand drops from up to 10 feet high. On top of that, its 1,050/1,000 MB/s read/write speeds should be enough for most people's needs.

Samsung 980 Pro

Samsung's 980 Pro SSD has dropped to $50 for Prime Day. It's another good option for the PS5, especially since you can spring for a model with an included heatsink if you want. The 980 Pro has read speeds up to 7,000 MB/s and reliable thermal controls.

Crucial MX500

Crucial's MX500 internal drive has been discounted to $48 for Prime Day. It has sequential read speeds of 560MB/s and a standard 2.5-inch design that should make it easy to swap in for your desktop's or laptop's used-up drive.

Amazon Echo Dot

Amazon has knocked the price of the latest Echo Dot down to $23, which is more than half off its normal price. It’s one of the best smart speakers you can get right now thanks to its orb-like design, surprisingly good sound quality for its size and handy Alexa integration. The newest Echo Dots can also act as Eero WiFi boosters, adding up to 1,000 square feet of coverage to your existing Eero system. If you’re looking for something even more affordable, the new Echo Pop is down to $18 right now as well.

Amazon Echo Show 5

The latest Echo Show 5 is half off and down to a record low of $45. The Show 5 has been one of the best smart displays available for quite some time, and it’ll be particularly good for anyone who wants an Alexa-capable smart display that won’t take up a lot of space. It also makes for a good alarm clock thanks to its sunrise alarm and tap-to-snooze features. The newest model has a faster processor, improved sound quality and an additional microphone for better Alexa performance.

Amazon Fire Max 11

Amazon's recently released Fire Max 11 tablet is on sale for $150 for Prime Day. It's the best discount we've seen since the Amazon's most powerful tablet launched in May. The slab has an 11-inch 2000 x 1200 touchscreen, an octa-core processor, 4GB of RAM, up to 128GB of built-in storage and up to 14 hours of battery life. It can also work with a detachable keyboard and stylus, so you could use it like a 2-in-1 laptop.

Samsung S95B

The 65-inch Samsung S95B is on sale for $1,598, matching its all-time low. Typically, this highly-rated set has cost an extra $100 to $200 in recent months.

The S95B’s QD-OLED panel combines OLED tech with a quantum dot layer, allowing it to deliver high contrast and wide viewing angles without sacrificing as much as typical OLED TVs in terms of brightness and color saturation. This means it should provide a rich image even in brighter rooms. It can also play up to 4K 120Hz, which is handy for the PS5 or Xbox Series X, but like all Samsung TVs, it doesn’t support Dolby Vision HDR.

The S95B is a 2022 model, so it’s on the way out in favor of the new S95C. The latter supports a faster 144Hz refresh rate and runs its ports through an external box, which makes the design thinner. Other reviewerssay it can get a bit brighter, too. But the S95 currently costs $2,298 and $2,298 for a 55- and 65-inch model, respectively, and its upgrades don’t appear to be massive enough to justify that extra cost for most. If you’re in the market for a premium TV, the S95B should remain the better value while it’s still available.

Roku Streaming Stick 4K

Roku's Streaming Stick 4K is down to $35 for Prime Day, or $15 off its usual price. It's our favorite streaming device at the moment because it packs a ton of features into an affordable package. It streams 4K, HDR content with Dolby Vision, and it supports AirPlay 2 and private listening with headphones.

Google Pixel 7a

The Google Pixel 7a is on sale for $449 right now, or $50 off its usual rate and an all-time low. This is the best midrange phone you can get right now thanks to its speedy Tensor G2 chip, smooth 90Hz display and support for wireless charging. The 7a also has solid cameras and an IP67 water-resistant design.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra

Samsung's Galaxy S23 Ultra has dropped to a record-low price of $950 for Prime Day, and the rest of the lineup is on sale, too. The Ultra in particular is the best Android smartphone you can get right now thanks to its Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip, big, bold 120Hz display, built-in S Pen and excellent main camera.

Instant Vortex Plus

The top pick in our air fryer guide, the Instant Vortex Plus is on sale for $100 right now. Not only does this machine do a good job turning all types of food into crispy goodness, but it also has a "ClearCook" window so you can see your food while it's being prepared. It also has OdorEase technology, which does a decent job temping down cooking smells and reducing smokiness.

Blink Mini 2-pack

A two-pack of Blink Mini security cameras is on sale for $34 for Prime Day. That's only $4 more than we saw it during the holiday shopping season last year. While these cameras are wired, they have most of the same features as the standard wireless Blink cameras including 1080p video recordings and support for two-way talk and motion alerts.

Your Prime Day Shopping Guide: See all of our Prime Day coverage. Shop the best Prime Day deals on Yahoo Life. Follow Engadget for the best Amazon Prime Day tech deals. Learn about Prime Day trends on In the Know. Hear from Autoblog’s car experts on must-shop auto-related Prime Day deals and find Prime Day sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.

The first Rolls-Royce EV, the Spectre, is going on sale soon at a cool $425,000 — and at that price, purchasing slots will be limited, to say the least. But any buyers planning to flip one for a quick profit may want to think twice. CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös said that any customers attempting to resell their Spectre models for profit will be banned for life from ever buying another Rolls-Royce from official dealers, according to a report from Car Dealer.

"I can tell you we are really sanitizing the need to prove who you are, what you want to do with the car – you need to qualify for a car and then you might get a slot for an order," he said. And anyone who violates the policy and sells the Spectre for a profit is "going immediately on a blacklist and this is it – you will never ever have the chance to acquire again."

The British, BMW-owned company isn't the first to impose bans on flipping its vehicles. Last year, GM said it would ban buyers from flipping Hummer EVs, Corvette Z06's and other vehicles within 12 months under the threat of limiting the transferability of certain warranties. On top of that stick, it offered a carrot in the form of $5,000 in reward points for customers who kept their eighth-generation Corvette Z06's for at least a year.

With a potential lifetime ban, Rolls-Royce's rules are even more strict, but some secondhand dealers aren't happy. A London dealer told Car Dealer that he had already agreed to pay a £50,000 ($65,000) premium for two Spectre EVs, and will have them for sale "within two weeks of it being launched" this fall. "I do not think it is fair for carmakers to tell customers who have spent close to half a million pounds on a car what they can do with it," he said. 

The Rolls-Royce Spectre has generally received positive reviews, as you'd hope at such a price. A 102kWh battery pack gives it a 329 mile WLTP range, and it should be relatively quick for a 2.9 tonne (3.19 ton) vehicle thanks to the 576 HP/664 pound-feet powertrain. "Only a Rolls-Royce, maybe a Bentley, really lets you close the door on the world, like a house deep in parkland," said Autocar — though you might be able to buy that parkland house for less. 

It's always a good idea to look for discounts on big-ticket items on Prime Day, and robot vacuums are no exception. These machines can be some of the most expensive gadgets you buy for your home, with high-end models costing close to (or more than) $1,000 normally. Thankfully, Prime Day is a good time to pick up a robo-vac for much less than that since premium models tend to be hundreds of dollars off, and even those that already have budget-friendly prices are also often discounted. Here are the best robot vacuum Prime Day deals we could find on all of our favorite machines.

iRobot Roomba 694

The iRobot Roomba 694 has dropped to $199 for Prime Day. It's normally our favorite budget robot vacuum, so this discount makes it an even better buy. We like its minimalist yet attractive design, strong suction power and easy-to-use companion app.

iRobot Roomba s9+

The premium Roomba s9+ is on sale for $600 for Prime Day. This is the most expensive robot vacuum that iRobot makes, and it's currently one of our favorite high-end models. It might be overkill for most people, but it's a robo-vac that does an excellent job of cleaning both hard and carpeted floors, and doesn't choke up at the first sign of pet hair. We also like that it comes with a clean base into which it will empty its dustbin after every job.

iRobot Roomba j7+

The iRobot Roomba j7+ has been discounted to $649 for Prime Day. This is one of the company's newest robot vacuums and we like that it has strong suction power and comes with a clean base. The j7+'s claim to fame, though, is its advanced obstacle avoidance, which helps it steer clear of furniture and other objects while it's cleaning. This includes a robo-vac's arch nemesis — pet poop.

Shark AI Ultra 2-in-1 robot vacuum

Shark's vacuum-and-mop machine has dropped to $380 for Prime Day. It's one of the best robot vacuums you can get right now because of its versatility and decent starting price, so if you can pick it up while it's on sale, that's even better. It comes with a water reservoir with a cloth attached to it that lets you mop hard floors when you need to. The standard dustbin will hold all debris during vacuuming, and the machine is smart enough to empty its clean base automatically after every vacuuming job (you'll have to empty the water reservoir on your own).

Shark AI Ultra robot vacuum

A top pick in our robot vacuum guide, Shark's AI Ultra robo-vac is on sale for $419 for Prime Day. It's just as easy to use and effective as a similar Roomba, but you can often find it at a notably cheaper price point. We found that it cleaned carpet and hard floors well, and its included clean base is bagless, which means you won't have to spend more money over time buying proprietary garbage bags for it.

Anker Eufy RoboVac X8 Hybrid

Another vac-and-mop combo, the Eufy RoboVac X8 Hybrid has dropped to $300 for Prime Day. Like a lot of other Anker/Eufy devices, the RoboVac X8 Hybrid already starts out much cheaper than its competition but it works nearly just as well. It can vacuum and mop, thanks to its included water reservoir, and we were impressed by its easy set-up process, four cleaning modes, smart home mapping and handy "tap-and go" feature.

Your Prime Day Shopping Guide: See all of our Prime Day coverage. Shop the best Prime Day deals on Yahoo Life. Follow Engadget for the best Amazon Prime Day tech deals. Learn about Prime Day trends on In the Know. Hear from Autoblog’s car experts on must-shop auto-related Prime Day deals and find Prime Day sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.

It’s back and here to ruin our savings and increase the gadgets in our homes. Yes, Amazon Prime Day isn’t entirely about headphones, tablets and wearables, but for Engadget staff… well, it feels like it is. Prime Day deals on tech are typically only matched by Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals, making it a good time to pick up any devices you want – at a discount.

In the past, the best devices often weren’t given the Prime Day discount treatment, but this year has several things I not only bought myself but have recommended to friends and family. That includes $50 off the second-generation AirPods Pro (literally using them as I write this newsletter), last year’s Kindle e-reader, down from $100 to $65 and, my pick for the best smartphone under $500, the Google Pixel 7a, now a dollar shy of $450.

Our editors are looking out for subsequent bargains, as things have only just started. You can also follow Engadget Deals on Twitter for the latest news, and sign up for Engadget Deals newsletter – because you’re already subscribed to TMA, right?

– Mat Smith 

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Sarah Silverman sues ChatGPT owners and Meta over copyright infringement

The comedian alleges the companies didn't get her consent to use her work.

Reuters

Sarah Silverman is suing OpenAI, creators of ChatGPT, and Meta. On Friday, the comedian and author, alongside novelists Christopher Golden and Richard Kadrey, filed a pair of complaints against both companies. The complaints center around the datasets OpenAI and Meta allegedly used to train ChatGPT and LLaMA. In the case of OpenAI, while its Books1 dataset conforms approximately to the size of Project Gutenberg — a well-known copyright-free book repository — lawyers argue the Books2 dataset is too large to have derived from anywhere other than "shadow libraries" of illegally available copyrighted material. In one exhibit from the lawsuit, Silverman’s legal team asked the chatbot to summarize The Bedwetter, a memoir she published in 2010. The chatbot could not only outline entire parts of the book but also appeared to reproduce some passages verbatim.

Continue reading.

Google is testing its medical AI chatbot at the Mayo Clinic

Med-PaLM 2 can respond to medical questions, summarize documents and more.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Google is already testing its Med-PaLM 2 AI chat technology at the Mayo Clinic and other hospitals. It's based on the company's PaLM 2 large language model (LLM) that underpins Bard, Google's ChatGPT rival — and was launched just months ago at Google I/O.

During I/O, Google released a paper detailing its work on Med-PaLM2. On the positive side, it demonstrated features like "alignment with medical consensus," reasoning ability and even the ability to generate answers preferred by respondents over physician-generated responses. Less ideally, it showed the same accuracy problems we've seen on other Chat AI models – not what you’re looking for when in medical advice.

Continue reading.

This EV is basically an RC car, supersized

It can go over 60 MPH, costs $45k and will be street-legal in Europe.

The Little Car Company

UK-based The Little Car Company has built an adult-sized version of the Tamiya Wild One RC car, a toy that took the toy world by storm back in the 1980s. This is a fully electric vehicle with eight swappable battery packs that give an advertised 124 miles of range. The Tamiya Wild One Max was originally announced back in 2021, but the design has changed significantly since then. It’s bigger, more powerful and, of course, more expensive, as the original design was set to cost around $8,500. The new design also features a revised front suspension system, an interior for two occupants and a weight of 1,100 pounds.

Continue reading.

Lots of Apple products are discounted for Amazon Prime Day, including the latest generation iPads, AirPods, MacBooks and Apple Watches. If you’ve had your eye on a brand new MacBook Air or want to get Apple’s budget SE smartwatch for even less, the sale is a good time to act. You won’t find new, unlocked iPhones or Apple’s HomePod speakers as Amazon doesn't tend to carry those, but most of Apple's current-model tech is seeing some of the best discounts so far this year. Here are the best Prime Day deals on Apple products we could find.

AirPods Pro (2nd gen)

Apple’s second generation AirPods Pro are on sale for $199 during Prime Day. That’s a $50 and the best price we've seen. They are our top pick for iPhone users in our earbuds guide and represent a big improvement over the first iteration, with better noise canceling and overall improved sound. They have an excellent transparency mode that lets you listen to music while still keeping aware of the sounds around you and they pair nicely with iPhones, iPads and Macs and make good use of Siri’s assistance.

AirPods (3rd gen)

Apple's updated AirPods have been discounted to $140 for Prime Day. Released in 2021, these wireless earbuds improve upon their predecessors in nearly every way. They have better sound quality, a more comfortable design and a longer battery life. They don't have ANC like the AirPods Pro do, but it's hard to beat the third-gen AirPods at this price for iPhone users.

AirPods (2nd gen)

The second-generation AirPods are down to $89 for Prime Day. These wireless earbuds are a bit old at this point, but if you have less than $100 to send and want a pair that work seamlessly with iPhones and other Apple devices, these are a good option. They fit similarly to Apple's EarPods and they have improved wireless range.

iPad Air

The latest iteration of Apple’s iPad Air is $500 after a $100 discount. We think it’s the best iPad for most people. It came out in 2022 and features Apple’s own M1 system-on-a-chip processor and a bright and sharp 10.9-inch display. We gave it a review score of 90, noting that the updated chip and 5G capabilities (on the cellular model) make it “almost future-proof.”

iPad (9th gen)

Apple's 9th-generation iPad is down to $250, which it's best price yet as it normally sells for $329. It’s the budget pick in our guide to the best iPads. Though it doesn’t have the thin bezels and as much accessory support as our favorite, the iPad Air, it's the most affordable way to snag an iPad. It’s a great couch companion that performs well for casual browsing, binge streaming and light gaming. 

The latest (10th) generation of Apple’s standard iPad in the 64GB size is down to $380 after a $70 discount. It’s got a slightly larger screen and a newer chip (though not Apple’s own M-series silicon). The latest gen also ditches the home button, which is nice, but does away with the headphone jack, which isn’t as great.

iPad mini

A smaller tablet like the iPad mini can do a lot of what your phone can while giving you more screen real estate. For Prime Day, Apple’s diminutive slate is $380 instead of its usual $499. We gave the mini an 89 in our review because of its fresh design and solid performance. It also pairs nicely with the second generation Apple Pencil, turning the mini into a portable digital notebook.

Apple Pencil (2nd gen)

The latest Apple Pencil is usually $129 but Prime Day is making it just $89. The second generation of the stylus works with the most recent models of the iPad mini, the iPad Air and both sizes of the iPad Pro. The standard iPad, even the latest iteration, still works with the first generation Apple Pencil, which is $79 right now. The Apple pencil lets you draw, sketch, take handwritten notes and even write in search boxes. The second gen pencil magnetically attaches to and charges from all compatible iPads.

Magic Keyboard

The Magic Keyboard for the iPad Air or the 11-inch iPad Pro is now just $250 as opposed to the $300 list price. The keyboard wraps around and magnetically attaches to your iPad, acting as a case when closed, then when it’s time to type, your tablet “floats”above the keyboard. It’s one of our favorite iPad accessories and in our review of the iPad Pro, we noted the Magic Keyboard “provides the best typing experience” for Apple’s tablets. The keyboard for the 12.9 inch iPad Pro is also on sale and going for $299 for Prime Day.

AirTags

Apple’s AirTags are discounted $90 for the four-pack. Compared to the usual $28.50 per-tag price, that’s a decent savings. We named the AirTags the best bet for iPhone users because they tap into Apple’s vast Find My network, pinging off nearby Apple phones to anonymously locate the tracker if it's ever lost out in the city.

Apple Watch Series 8

Apple’s flagship smartwatch is the Apple Watch Series 8 and Prime Day is giving it a $120 discount. Usually $399, the 41mm GPS model is now $280. The Series 8 is our favorite smartwatch thanks to its detailed health and fitness tracking along with a seamless integration with your iPhone’s apps and notifications. New features like temperature sensors, ECG and blood oxygen readings and improved sleep metrics give you more data than ever, while the crash detection can call for help if you’re ever in an accident. The upcoming WatchOS 10 will add widgets and expanded features including ways to track your mood in the Mindfulness app.

Apple Watch SE

The Apple Watch SE is Apple’s budget smart watch that’s usually listed at $250. Prime Day discounts are making it just $200 for the 40 mm size. The 44mm version is usually $270 but down to $230 for the sale. We called the SE “the best smartwatch $250 can buy” in our Engadget review. It makes surprisingly few sacrifices over the Series 8 and shares the same looks, processor and 50-meter water resistance. It doesn’t have an always-on display and lacks the sensors for blood oxygen, temperature and EKG readings. If you don’t need all that, you can still get scads of fitness and health data plus seamless integration with your iPhone.

MacBook Pro (M2, 14-inch)

The MacBook Pro offers music makers, video producers and other heavy users a lot of processing power with the M2 Pro and M2 Max chips. Amazon is selling the base model 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M2 Pro chip, 16GB of memory and 512GB of storage for $1,799, which is $200 off the usual $1,999. The base model 16-inch MacBook Pro with the same specs is down to $2,299 instead of $2,499. When the new MacBook Pros came out in January of this year, we gave the 14-inch model a 92 review score, praising the Liquid Retina XDR display, sturdy design and plethora of ports including three Thunderbolt 4 USB-C, HDMI, a headphone jack and a full-sized SD card slot.

The 2022 13-inch MacBook Pro is also on sale for $1,099 after a $200 discount, but we’re not as impressed with this machine. If you’re happy with a 13-inch screen, you’re probably better off going with the 13-inch MacBook Air.

AirPods Max

Apple’s over-ear headphones, the AirPods Max are on sale for $450, which is $100 off the usual $549. They earned an 84 in our review when they came out at the end of 2020. We liked the balanced sound, solid active noise cancellation and long 20-hour battery life with a unique low-power mode that leaves the headphones in standby so they’re ready to play as soon as you put them on.

Apple Studio Display

The usual $1,599 for the Apple Studio Display is pretty steep. Prime Day has brought the price down to $1,499, which makes it a little more palatable, but we still think the display is ideal only for true Apple devotees. The A13 Bionic chip inside makes it a little smarter than most displays, but the 60Hz refresh rate is disappointing. Still, it’s got a nice build with good speakers and a bright and accurate screen.

Your Prime Day Shopping Guide: See all of our Prime Day coverage. Shop the best Prime Day deals on Yahoo Life. Follow Engadget for the best Amazon Prime Day tech deals. Learn about Prime Day trends on In the Know. Hear from Autoblog’s car experts on must-shop auto-related Prime Day deals and find Prime Day sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.