The latest Apple HomePod speaker is on sale for $285 at B&H Photo, which is $14 less than buying from Apple directly. This isn't the largest cash discount we've seen, and Apple previously bundled the device with a $50 gift card during Black Friday. But deals of any kind on the home speaker have been uncommon since it arrived in early 2023, so this modest drop still represents the lowest price we've seen in the last few months. The discount applies to both the black and white versions of the speaker.

We gave the second-generation HomePod a score of 84 in our review last year. It'll make the most sense if you're a particularly dedicated Apple user who prioritizes audio quality. It still works easily with other Apple devices and services, from iPhones to Apple TVs to Apple Music, and we generally find it to sound richer and clearer than competing smart speakers from Amazon and Google. As a smart home device, it's compatible with Matter and Thread on top of Apple's own HomeKit protocol, so you can use it to control a growing range of security cameras, thermostats, plugs and other smart home accessories. It also has built-in temperature and humidity sensors, and its included mics do well to pick out your voice through noise.

To be clear, this is still a pricey and relatively niche device. Speakers like the Sonos Five and Sonos Era 300 cost more but offer louder and more dynamic sound quality, while the Sonos Era 100 may be a better value if you want to conserve a little more cash. Apple's own HomePod Mini has nearly all of the same smart home features if that's your main concern, while Google Assistant and Alexa users should still look to Google's Nest Audio or an Amazon Echo device. The HomePod has its own issues, too: Siri isn't the most capable voice assistant, there's no Bluetooth audio, you can't customize its EQ and you need a workaround to control Spotify via voice. Rumors of a touchscreen-enabled HomePod have also floated around over the past year. All that said, if you're all-in on Apple, this is a decent chance to save on the company's highest-end home speaker.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

Arturia just announced the KeyLab Essential 88 mk3, a larger sibling to the previously-released Essential 49 and 61 MIDI keyboards. As the name implies, this is a full-size 88-key controller that allows you to play the entire note range of a piano at the same time. There’s no need for changing octaves here.

Just like the other entries in the KeyLab Essential line, the 88 mk3 is intended to be a budget-friendly alternative to the flagship KeyLab controllers. The build is solid, with semi-weighted keys, though slightly less premium than the standard KeyLab 88. There’s also a reduced number of hands-on controls when compared to the flagship, though there’s still plenty to tinker around with.

To that point, the KeyLab Essential 88 mk3 includes the same screen as the smaller keyboards, for navigating presets. There are also nine knobs and nine faders for controlling parameters across Arturia’s line of softsynths.

Additionally, you get built-in control scripts that work with a number of popular DAWs, like Ableton Live. This allows you to do things like mix tracks using the built-in faders or stop and start recordings from the controller itself. 

There's also a contextual button below the screen that offers even more control over your plugins and virtual instruments. You may notice there’s only eight drum pads, but the KeyLab Essential line lets you switch to a second bank for the full 16. The keyboard features a hold function, new scale and chord modes and an arpeggiator.

Finally, this keyboard comes with plenty of software to get started with. The included bundle features Native Instruments’ iconic The Gentleman piano, the UVI Model D recreation, a two-month subscription to Loopcloud and a subscription to the Melodics tutoring software. Like always, you also get Ableton Live Lite and Arturia’s Analog Lab V.

We don’t know how much this will cost yet, but we reached out to Arturia for pricing information. As a comparison, the 61-key KeyLab Essential mk3 costs $249 and the 49-key version comes out to $199. Also, last generation's KeyLab Essential 88 costs $379, so expect it to fall somewhere in that range. The KeyLab Essential 88 mk3 will be available in both black and white. 

I’ve been using the AIAIAI Unit-4 Wireless+ studio monitors for a couple of months now. And initially, I wasn’t sure what to make of them. They’re solid studio monitors with 4-inch woofers and 1-inch silk tweeters. They sound good and look good. But the pitch — the reason these things cost $800 for a pair — is that they’re wireless. And not, “they’re studio monitors that also happen to have Bluetooth” wireless, though they have that as well. They include AIAIAI’s low-latency 2.4Ghz wireless tech that made its debut on the Studio Wireless+ a couple of years back. Plus they have sizable batteries, allowing them to run for up to 20 hours without any cables at all.

I was skeptical of the Studio Wireless+, but was eventually won over by the surprising convenience of not being tethered to my audio interface by a 3-meter long coiled cable. The Unit-4 have a somewhat tougher case to make, though. The cables that keep my current PreSonus monitors tethered to my desk don’t get in the way. I don’t have to unplug them to put on my guitar and I don’t trip over them while grabbing a synth from the shelf. Instead, the Unit-4 are meant to solve a very specific problem: needing studio quality monitors when you’re not in your studio.

As you might imagine, this is not a thing I find myself needing terribly often. I’m sure that someone out there, likely professional musicians who spend significant time on the road, would immediately see the appeal. But for a hobbyist like me, finding a use case is harder.

Before we get too deep into the “why,” let’s talk a little bit about the “what.” Until now AIAIAI has focused exclusively on headphones. A more conservative company might have simply made some bog-standard studio monitors and called it a day. But today you can get bog-standard studio monitors, and pretty decent ones at that, for not much money. So rather than just add more noise to an already saturated market, AIAIAI looked to see what it could do that would be unique.

Terrence O'Brien / Engadget

The somewhat surprising answer it got from some artists was wireless, battery-powered monitors. So it took the low-latency W+ Link technology it had developed for Studio Wireless+ and adapted it for use in a pair of 4-inch studio monitors. Where Bluetooth latency can be all over the map, ranging from around 40ms under ideal conditions with the latest hardware, to well over 100ms, W+ Link is a consistent 16ms. It’s not zero latency, but it’s close enough for a quick recording session or a casual jam.

Because of their size you’re not gonna get a ton of bass out of them. You get a surprising amount more low end just by jumping up to 5-inch woofers. But, it’s not like the Unit-4 lack oomph. They’ve got a decent amount of punch and a reasonably flat frequency response. That said, as with the Studio Wireless+, I find their tone a touch on the dark side.

There is an app for iOS and Android, though, where you can tune the EQ to your liking. I personally scooped the mids and cut the sub bass just a smidge to help brighten up the sound ever so slightly and keep things from getting muddy in my small attic studio. But there are also useful presets in there depending on where you are and what orientation the speakers are in, whether that’s horizontal on your desktop or on a picnic blanket in a park.

Terrence O'Brien / Engadget

While it’s purely subjective and of little practical value, the Unit-4 look great in any orientation or setting. They’re much better looking than most studio monitors. They’re sleek, black and have a stylish metal speaker grill that attaches firmly with the help of a few magnets. A ring of white light glows around the woofer when they’re powered on too. Like I said, it makes no functional difference, but they’re certainly a visual upgrade from my PreSonus Eris E5s.

There are a few design choices that I can quibble with, however, even if I understand the reasoning (usually to shave size and weight). First off, the Unit-4 lack XLR hookups. This isn’t unheard of on portable studio monitors, and they do have balanced TRS connections, but combo XLR / TRS jacks are pretty ubiquitous at this point and wouldn’t have required much more room.

The power bricks for each speaker are also enormous. Obviously, putting those components inside the speaker, along with their sizable 77Wh batteries, would have dramatically increased their size and weight. But it seems odd that, what I believe are, the largest power bricks in my home currently belong to the Unit-4, while none of the other studio monitors or speakers I own have external power supplies at all, just standard AC cables. They weigh more than a pound each, which means that, despite AIAIAI bragging that the Unit-4 only tip the scales at 2.5kg (or about 5.5 pounds), if you were to hit the road with two monitors and the chargers for each you’d be looking at a total weight of close to 14 pounds.

Terrence O'Brien / Engadget

That’s hardly unreasonable if your definition of portable is simply that you can move them from place to place — nobody is taking the Unit-4 with them on a whim on the off chance that they might need a studio monitor. Still, I will say that I think AIAIAI should include the carrying case if they’re pitching the portability factor, rather than it being a $70 add-on.

My biggest issue, though, was the decision to remove the battery from the transmitter. The X01 Transmitter that comes with the Studio Wireless+ has a built-in battery. The X02 Transmitter that is packaged with the Unit-4 does not. The perk of this is that, when used as a USB-C audio dongle with a laptop, it’s nice and discrete. The downside is that if you use the minijack output you need to provide your own power, preferably via a powerbank, rather than an AC adapter to minimize opportunity for interference or ground loops.

Part of AIAIAI’s rationale for ditching the battery was that, well, batteries have a tendency to wear out. And this way, you don’t have to chuck the whole transmitter just because it won’t hold a charge anymore. But, the company has figured out how to make practically every part of the studio monitors removable and replaceable (including the battery), so it seems like doing that for the transmitter shouldn’t have been too tough.

Terrence O'Brien / Engadget

The lack of a battery is a non-issue if you’re primarily using the Unit-4 connected to a computer. But if you’re using a standalone piece of gear like an SP-404, connecting to a mixer for a jam session or out busking it in a park, the extra cable and external power bank become something else to forget at home and kind of undermine the whole “wireless” thing.

I know that seems like a lot of negatives all in a row, but these are honestly pretty minor complaints. And I think that, if you are one of the people who will get a lot of use out of the Unit-4, they probably won’t deter you. The audience here is undoubtedly smaller than with the Studio Wireless+, though. Where almost any bedroom producer could use a solid set of headphones that can be wired or wireless at a moment’s notice, bouncing from low-latency studio mode to Bluetooth at the flip of a switch. The list of musicians that need the same from their desktop studio monitors is probably pretty short.

I can imagine these being super handy on a tour bus but, I am not a touring musician. Instead where I found the wireless feature most useful was for dabbling with new musical toys from anywhere in my house. Rather than hide in my attic, I could bring one of the Unit-4s down into the living room (but not both), connect the transmitter and a powerbank to say, the Gaia 2 and get some work done while also hanging out with my kids.

Terrence O'Brien / Engadget

Just for the hell of it, I took the Unit-4 to a park to shoot some review photos. I can’t say that’s something I’d want to do terribly often. Lugging them through the park as I looked for a decent enough place to stage my shoot got tiresome pretty quickly. But, I did put their loudness to the test by cranking the speakers all the way with my SP-404 MKII set to top volume. Quite a lot of people stopped and stared at me with open hostility. They still sounded great, with no distortion and the audio remained clear and punchy even from a few dozen feet away. But, like with the Wireless Studio+, the W+ Link does introduce some noise that becomes noticeable as you approach the 75-percent mark on the volume.

They were handy as just regular ol’ Bluetooth speakers. While it’s been a touch too cold to throw parties in my backyard, I’ve set one of the Unit-4s up outside while I’ve raked the leaves. If I really wanted to make my neighbors hate me, I could turn the speakers all the way up and they’d even be audible over my trimmer and leaf blower.

And thanks to their giant batteries they’d easily be able to last through a few hours of yard work, a raucous BBQ, some late night cleanup and then some. AIAIAI claims over 20 hours of battery life, but doesn’t specify if that’s over Bluetooth or W+ Link. I did a battery rundown test where I left the Unit-4 connected over W+, occasionally playing music through them from Ableton Live and djay Pro with the volume set at 75 percent. The first speaker gave up the ghost after 17 hours and 46 minutes, and the second followed 11 minutes later. Considering the Studio Wireless+ last more than four times as long when on Bluetooth versus W+ Link, it’s safe to assume you’d be able to eke quite a bit more playtime out of the Unit-4 if you were using them strictly as Bluetooth speakers. Of course, if you did that you’d be missing out on the whole point of the Unit-4.

Terrence O'Brien / Engadget

Even though they’re pricey, perhaps the ideal customer would be a busker. The Unit-4 can cover live performances with low enough latency to not be distracting, are reliable monitors for mixing in a studio, and also loud enough fill up an apartment or yard with tunes for a party. The only thing I wouldn’t want to rely on them for is DJing. While you could work around the latency by feeding both the cue and the live mix to a pair of headphones, it’s just a smidge too much if you really want to make sure your transitions are 100-percent on point.

One other thing worth noting is that the amount of latency you experience with the Unit-4 will vary depending on your source (USB-C vs ⅛” TRS) and even whether you’re on Windows or macOS. If you intend to use the Unit-4 with a Windows PC over USB-C you absolutely need to install the ASIO4ALL driver. Built-in Windows audio drivers have improved over the years, but they still can’t hold a candle to Apple’s Core Audio or Steinberg’s ASIO. To be clear, this isn’t an issue with the Unit-4, but with Windows. For the best results and the lowest latency, your best bet is still to use a dedicated Audio interface and to connect the X02 Transmitter to that using a TRS cable. Of course, that also means you’ll have to bring some way to power the transmitter, whether that’s a power bank or a USB-C power adapter.

Terrence O'Brien / Engadget

If you are someone looking for a pair of portable studio monitors that let you (more or less) ditch the cables entirely, the Unit-4 are basically the only game in town. They’re stylish, natural sounding and have a completely unique set of features. But they’re definitely more of a niche product than the Studio Wireless+. While their $350 price tag isn’t cheap, the flexibility and broader appeal make them an easier sell. The Unit-4 on the other hand are both quite expensive at $800, and trying to solve a very specific problem. At least I can say unequivocally, they solve that problem quite well.

Beyond the sound's quality, we want two things when it comes to headphones: a lightweight design and noise canceling. Bose's aptly named QuietComfort wireless headphones make a case for both and, right now, do so at a record-low price. The 2023 QuietComfort headphones are currently available for $249, down from $349 — a 29 percent discount. The sale applies to all colors: Cypress Green, Moonstone Blue, Black and White.

The newest iteration of the Bose QuietComfort wireless headphones improves on the QuietComfort 45. While many of the features (which we'll get into) are quite similar, the 2023 model offers adjustable ANC models and an option to save custom modes. The headphones are our choice for the best noise-canceling wireless headphones for 2024.

Bose's QuietComfort headphones also offer a soft earcup and padded band for that comfort component. They provide 24 hours of battery life with a 15-minute charge providing another two and a half hours of juice. As for sound quality, the QuietComfort headphones offer high-fidelity audio and adjustable EQ for even greater customization.

The Ultra QuietComfort model is also on sale, with a 12 percent discount dropping the cost to $379 from $429. They offer Breakthrough Spatialized Audio, Bluetooth 5.3 and "luxurious comfort." If headphones aren't your thing, Bose's QuietComfort Ultra Wireless Noise Cancelling Earbuds are available for $249, down from $299. Plus, you can grab the SoundLink Flex Bluetooth Speaker for $129 instead of $149.  

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

Last month, Bose took an interesting approach to debuting a new product when it launched its Ultra Open Earbuds exclusively through a collaboration with fashion company Kith. Now, Bose is back with its own version, nixing the co-branding while keeping the same price. For both varieties, the $299 Ultra Open Earbuds sit outside of your ear canal and clip onto the ridge of your ear to stay in place. Due to the open nature of the design, active noise cancellation (ANC) is moot, but Bose does bring its Immersive Audio tech to the table for spatial sound.

Bose has gone the “open” route before, debuting the Sport Open Earbuds in 2021. That model has the over-the-ear hook that we’ve seen on some fitness-focused earbuds, only the company opted for a hard plastic hook that doesn’t bend or flex at all. This meant they weren’t the most comfortable and you couldn’t use them while wearing glasses or a hat. As open-type earbuds have become increasingly popular, mostly for the allure of “all day” wear by allowing you to stay in-tune with your surroundings, Bose developed this model that fixes all the issues of its previous design. There are some trade-offs with earbuds that sit outside of your ear canal, but you may be willing to overlook them in the name of style, comfort and functionality.

Design

Photo by Kate Steele/Engadget

For the Ultra Open Earbuds, Bose created a two-piece design that consists of a rounded speaker chamber that sits outside of your ear canal and a cylindrical battery box that rests behind your ear. In between is a strip of soft-touch, flexible silicon that wraps around the edge of your ear for what the company calls a “light-as-air grip.” There are onboard controls too, as the battery barrel on both sides each holds a single, multi-function button.

Bose describes the Ultra Open Earbuds as “more fashion accessory than traditional wearable,” and they certainly aren’t inconspicuous. They provide a lewk that you’ll need to be okay with. During my testing, not everyone I encountered, even in my own home, was a fan.

“It’s really hard for me to look at you when you have those things on,” my wife said. “They’re a vibe.” On the bright side, that vibe got me out of a conversation with a door-to-door internet salesman quickly as they suggested I was “on call.”

Polarizing design aside, the Ultra Open Earbuds are extremely comfortable to wear. Earbuds that go into your ears are fine for a few hours at most for me before they become a test of my endurance. Open-type earbuds are different, of course, and these are certainly the most comfy of the sort that I’ve tested thanks to the lack of a hook. And that clip-on pressure is so light that you don’t feel any irritation there. There’s enough of a grip to hold the IPX4-rated earbuds in place though, even during workouts.

Bose Music app and features

Photo by Billy Steele/Engadget

Like most of Bose’s recent products, the Ultra Open Earbuds work with the company’s Music app for access to features and settings. There isn’t anything new here that wasn’t available on the QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds that debuted last year, except for some guidance about how to put the Ultra Open Earbuds on. Most of the tools you’ll need are still front-and-center on the main screen, with things like battery life, sound modes, EQ, Immersive Audio and Bluetooth connections easily accessible. The Ultra Open Earbuds don’t have multipoint Bluetooth connectivity, so though the app does show multiple devices to stream from, you can only sync with one at a time. And since these are meant to be worn all the time, there’s no automatic pausing either.

The app also lets you reassign what the onboard button does, but only one gesture is available for customizing: press-and-hold. By default, it’s set to cycle between stereo and Immersive Audio modes. You can also employ it to change the Immersive Audio setting (Still, Motion, Off), switch Bluetooth connections, summon your voice assistant or simply disable it entirely. Left and right buttons can be configured individually, putting different tasks on either side. Bose does include onboard volume control despite only having one physical button on the earbuds. A double press then hold on the right increases the level while the same sequence on the left lowers it.

Sound quality

One unique aspect of the Ultra Open Earbuds audio-wise is the fact that you can wear them anywhere along your ear they sound and feel the best. This could be at the bottom of your ear or along the back edge. Bose says positioning around your ear doesn’t affect overall sound quality so long as the speaker component is placed first before wrapping the silicon “flex arm” around back. There are certain spots where the Ultra Open Earbuds feel and sound better, but it always takes a small adjustment to find the sweet spot when I first put them on.

Bose says that the Ultra Open Earbuds use so-called Open Audio in tandem with its spatial Immersive Audio tech for “a breakthrough experience.” According to the company, the former allows you to listen to tunes with “almost no sound leaks” to those around you. I found that this only holds true up to about 50 percent volume level. Above that, people around you in quiet settings will hear what you’re listening to. Not in great detail unless you crank the earbuds all the way up, but a general rumble is audible to those nearby.

Immersive Audio, Bose’s spatial sound technology, puts you in the acoustic sweet spot to improve the overall listening experience. This works really well on the QC Ultra Earbuds and QC Ultra Headphones where your ears are closed off and the sound is directed at them. With the Ultra Open Earbuds, the difference between stereo and Immersive Audio in terms of overall sound quality is subtle. And since Immersive Audio has such an impact on battery life, it’s probably best if you leave it off if you aren’t able to greatly distinguish between the two modes.

Photo by Billy Steele/Engadget

In general, the Ultra Open Earbuds suffer the same fate as most open-type audio wearables. You sacrifice sound quality to keep your ears clear, which certainly increases overall comfort most, if not all of the time. Specifically, there’s a lack of dynamic tuning as the audio profile rests mostly in the mid range. Bass is subdued, as are the crisp highs from Bose’s other recent audio gear. These are still some of the best open-type earbuds I’ve tested in terms of sound, but their design leads to a less impressive listening experience compared to in-ear buds.

There is a decent low-end thump when listening to things like Com Truise’s synth-tinged electronic instrumentals. But, it doesn’t have the same deep bass punch as closed-off earbuds. There’s also still good detail in mellow selections like Kacey Musgraves’ “Deeper Well” but even then the sound is more compressed than usual, so the openness of the track is quite subdued. The overall audio quality depends on how the earbuds fit on your ears as I could improve things by holding them close to my ear canal, but they don’t stay there without assistance. Where they rest on their own, though, doesn’t deliver the best these buds have to offer.

There also seems to be a reverb-y echo on the Ultra Open Earbuds, like the two sides are slightly out of sync. This is the biggest knock on the sound quality for me as it’s very evident when listening to podcasts. It sounds like the host recorded in a school hallway even when the audio is pristine. It doesn’t make the earbuds unusable, but it’s enough to be noticeable, especially on isolated voices. I’ve reached out to Bose for more information on why this is happening, and whether there might be a fix coming.

Call quality

Due to their design, the Ultra Open Earbuds are great for hearing yourself on calls. Your ears aren’t blocked, so you don’t ever feel the need to shout or worry about a subpar transparency mode. When you’re speaking, voice quality is decent, but only in quiet areas. If you encounter medium-to-high levels of ambient noise, which I simulated with a white noise machine and a louder-than-average bathroom fan, that background clamor is very apparent to the person on the other side.

Battery life

Photo by Billy Steele/Engadget

On the Ultra Open Earbuds, battery life is drastically impacted by the spatial Immersive Audio. Bose says you can expect up to four and a half hours with it turned on or up to seven and half hours without. Battery life also took a hit on the QC Ultra Earbuds and the QC Ultra Headphones when Immersive Audio was at work, so this isn’t a surprise. But, cutting the expected play time by about half is more of a decrease than what I experienced on those two models. During my tests, I managed just over five hours of playtime at 75 percent volume with Immersive Audio active almost the entire time. This includes letting the earbuds sit idle in standby mode twice for around 30-45 minutes before picking them back up (breaks not factored into use time).

The good news is there are nearly three full charges in the case, no matter which audio mode you use. A 10-minute rest will give you up to two hours of playtime and the Ultra Open Earbuds take one hour to fully charge. The bad news is that the case doesn’t charge wirelessly out of the box, so you’ll need to plug in a USB-C cable. Bose will sell a wireless charging cover for the case like it does with the QC Ultra Earbuds ($49).

The competition

There are fewer options for open-wear earbuds than there are “traditional” models. One in particular is worth considering as an alternative to the Ultra Open Earbuds. Shokz is better known for its bone-conduction models that keep your ears completely free from obstruction, but the company also makes the OpenFit ($180) open-ear headphones. Engadget homepage editor Jon Turi observed “rich bass” during his review, but with a “crunchy” edge to super-low frequencies. Senior commerce editor Valentina Palladino has also tested these, noting the balanced weight distribution that helps them stay in place during workouts. Of course, these have the over-the-ear hook, so you’ll have to contend with that interfering with glasses or headwear.

For something more mainstream, I’d suggest Bose’s QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds. They are certainly the best true wireless model yet from the company, with stellar ANC performance and that Immersive Audio tech that doesn’t require special content for spatial sound. They’re also slightly cheaper at $249.

Wrap-up

Kudos to Bose for thinking outside the box for its latest set of open-style earbuds. The Ultra Open Earbuds’ design is certainly unique, and it’s also very comfortable. If you’re going to wear these all day like the company expects, they can’t be painful at any point, and these certainly aren’t. However, you’ll need to make some sacrifices in terms of audio, unless these fit you right in the sweet spot close to your ear canal. If all-day wear is your goal, though, and you enjoy the benefits of the open design, you’ll likely be ok with the sonic deficiencies.

The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds are available starting today in black and white color options for $299.

We named the Sonos Era 100 the best midrange option in our guide to smart speakers and right now, Woot is selling a two-pack for $410. That amounts to an 18 percent discount or $88 less than buying them at full price from Sonos. This isn't the lowest price we've seen — that happened during Black Friday last year, when a single unit sold for $199 directly from Sonos. Still, if you want a smart speaker capable of delivering good audio, the deal is worth considering as Sonos speakers aren't often on sale. 

The Sonos Era 100 earned an 88 in our review, with Engadget's Nathan Ingraham calling it "affordable multi-room audio that actually sounds good." This is the replacement for the popular Sonos One and improves upon its predecessor in both sound quality and features. It has a new speaker array with two tweeters and a larger woofer. Combined, the improvements add up to better clarity and impressive bass. 

The Era 100 can now tune itself based on where you put the speaker thanks to the built-in mics (previously you had to manually optimize it using your phone). Unlike the Sonos One, this generation does have line-in capabilities, but you'll need an adapter to hook up a turntable. The multi-room audio feature is simple to set up, as is pairing the speakers to work in stereo — that means if you go for this offer, it'll be easy to get the most out of the set.  

As a smart speaker, Alexa comes standard so you can get help with questions, smart home control and other tasks like setting reminders or managing your smart home devices. There's also the Sonos assistant, which lets you control your music just by asking. Unfortunately, the Google Assistant is no longer supported through Sonos speakers. The Era 100 does support Apple AirPlay 2, but you'll need to access Siri through your phone, not the speaker. 

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

We recommend the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds in our guide to the best wireless earphones for those who just want the strongest active noise cancellation (ANC) possible in a true wireless design. If you've been looking to pick up a pair, take note: A recent sale has brought the earphones back down to $249, which takes $50 off their usual price and matches the previous low we saw during the holiday season. The offer is available at several retailers, including Amazon, Walmart and Bose's own online store, and it comes as part of a wider spate of discounts on the company's headphones, earbuds, soundbars and Bluetooth speakers.

Engadget Senior Reporter Billy Steele gave the QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds a score of 88 in his review last September. Again, ANC performance is the big attraction here: The earphones do a superb job of reducing external sound across the board, and Bose's app lets you lower the intensity of the ANC if it ever feels uncomfortable. (Though, as with most noise-canceling headphones, voices and other higher-pitched sounds will come through a little clearer than bass- and midrange tones.) The actual earpieces are larger than most other pairs, but they're comfortable, with soft silicone tips that don't create too much pressure in the ear. 

Bose's sound signature is a bit bass-heavy out of the box, but not to the point of sloppiness, so it should particularly satisfy fans of hip-hop and pop. If you want a little less low-end, you can tweak the EQ curve through Bose's app. This model also comes with an optional spatial audio feature dubbed "Immersive Audio," which aims to give any song a greater soundstage and sense of width. Some tracks will still take to it better than others, but Steele found it to offer impressive detail on the whole.

There are some issues to keep in mind, though. The QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds lack wireless charging by default; to add it, you need to buy a $49 case cover. They also can't connect to two devices simultaneously. The built-in mic is fine for phone calls, but not good, and the six to seven hours of battery life is similarly just OK. With Immersive Audio on, the latter drops closer to four hours. Sony's WF-1000XM5, the top pick in our guide, offer a wider feature set and excellent ANC performance in their own right (though they may be less comfortable for those with smaller ears). Apple's AirPods Pro, meanwhile, still include a bevy of conveniences for iPhone owners. Still, if you want a true wireless set that focuses on ANC and spatial audio, this is a decent discount.

In other Bose deals, the over-ear version of the QuietComfort Ultra are also $50 off at $379. That pair delivers top-notch ANC as well, but it's harder to justify when Sony's WH-1000XM5, our favorite wireless headphones overall, is currently on sale for $50 less. The older QuietComfort Earbuds II are available for $199 as well, though our review found the Ultra model's spatial audio tricks to be worth the upgrade.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

Amazon's Fire TV soundbar is back on sale for $100, bringing the price down from $120. That’s a savings of $20, or 17 percent, on the well-regarded audio device. This matches the Black Friday price from last year, so this is likely the cheapest you’ll see the soundbar until, well, the holidays.

The device can enhance your TV audio via dual speakers, with access to 3D surround sound. You also get DTS Virtual X and Dolby Audio support. It comes with a remote for adjusting the volume, but you can also plug it directly into a Fire TV and use that remote for everything. Plug and play experiences are always nice.

The soundbar also has Bluetooth, so you can connect it to your phone or tablet to stream podcasts or whatever. The only thing missing, and this is odd for an Amazon gadget, is Alexa. You won’t be able to use the dulcet tones of your speaking voice to make any volume adjustments with this soundbar.

There’s also the pigskin-encased elephant in the room. The Super Bowl is just 11 days away. If you’re looking to upgrade your home entertainment system before gorging on nachos with your buddies and playing Taylor Swift-inspired drinking games, this is a mighty fine option. Many rival products cost two to three times as much as this soundbar. 

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

Yamaha has a new audio mixer for gamers and streamers. Nearly three years after the launch of the company’s first gaming-specific soundboard, the company’s new ZG02 adds a dedicated USB-C port for gaming consoles, a more streamlined profile and a lower price ($200 compared to the ZG01’s $300).

Yamaha wants to establish its ZG line as more straightforward and accessible than offerings from rival audio companies with gazes similarly fixed on the Twitch and Discord sets (Rode and Roland also court gamers and streamers). “While other game mixing solutions can be cumbersome and complex, the ZG02 offers a more tactile, compact and intuitive mixing experience with customizable effects controls,” Yamaha consumer audio director Alex Sadeghian wrote in a press release.

In addition to its on-the-fly sound, chat and voice adjustments, the Yamaha ZG02 includes competitive gaming “focus” modes and 3D surround sound. It has software-based mic settings and voice effects, including compression, limiter, reverb, pitch and a radio voice filter. In addition, you can assign your favorite shortcuts to its physical buttons in the (free) companion app for Windows and macOS.

The mixer supports gaming headsets with built-in or dedicated mics through an XLR / TRS combo jack on its rear (and has 48V of phantom power for condenser mics). It includes a “versatile USB interface” for Windows and macOS computers, and its console-specific USB-C port works with PS5 / PS4 and Nintendo Switch.

The ZG01 includes a USB driver that lets you route audio to two different apps (for example, Discord and OBS / Streamlabs). Yamaha also touts compatibility with the Elgato Stream Deck lineup. The $200 ZG02 is available starting today in the US at Yamaha’s website.

Sony's WH-1000XM5 headphones are some of the most popular on the market, thanks to the improved sound quality, comfortable fit and highly effective active noise cancellation (ANC). If you've been looking at buying a pair, now is a good time to act. They're currently on sale at Amazon in black, midnight blue and silver for $328, a solid 18 percent off the list price. 

The WH-1000XM5 scored an excellent 95 in our Engadget review, thanks to improvements in nearly every way over our previous favorite headphones, the WH-1000XM4. Perhaps the biggest is in fit and comfort thanks to the more optimal weight distribution, synthetic leather ear cups and slightly reduced weight.

Sound quality also went up, due to the new 30mm carbon fiber drivers that deliver punchier bass. We also saw more clarity that helps you hear fine detail, along with improved depth that makes music more immersive. And Sony's DSEE Extreme sound processing recovers detail lost to compression, without any noticeable impact on sound quality.

The ANC is equally impressive. With double the number of noise cancellation microphones found in the M4, along with a new dedicated V1 chip, the M5 does a better job at minimizing background noise. And in terms of the microphone, we found that the M5 offers superior call quality over its predecessor. Moreover, you get 30 hours of listening time with ANC enabled, enough for the longest of flights.

The main drawbacks of the WH-1000XM5 headphones compared to the previous model is that they no longer fold up, and don't have the granular ANC adjustment found on other models like Bose's QuietComfort Ultra. The other issue is the $400 price tag, but at $328, they're a solid deal — and that price applies to all the main colorways.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.