Like Amazon Prime Day before it, Black Friday is a good time to save on Amazon’s own devices. We’re seeing some deals that match — and a few that beat — the prices from July and October’s sales. If you’ve had your eye on a Fire TV Stick or a Ring doorbell, or if you want to give a Kindle or an Echo Show as a gift, Amazon’s Black Friday Sale is a good time to shop, with discounts going as high as 56 percent. Here are the best deals on Amazon devices we could find.

Amazon Kindle Black Friday deals

Kindle Scribe

A number of Amazon’s Kindle models are on sale for Black Friday, including a new all-time low on the read/write Kindle Scribe. The model with 16GB of storage and the "Basic Pen" stylus is down to $240. That’s $100 off its $340 list price and its lowest price yet. We reviewed it when it came out last year and named it the best ereader/E Ink tablet combo in our guide. The Scribe lets you draw, make to-do lists, create sticky notes and scribble in the margins of a limited selection of Kindle titles (mostly puzzle and journaling books).

Kindle

The standard Kindle is our favorite budget ereader and down to $80 which is 20 percent off though about $15 more than its members-only Prime Day price. It lacks a warm back light and isn’t waterproof, but it’s got a crisp, 300 ppi screen and 16GB of storage, which should take you many years to fill up. Plus it’s an affordable way to access the Kindle library and Kindle Exclusive titles.

Kindle Paperwhite

The standard Kindle Paperwhite is on sale, down to $120 after a 15 percent discount. That's a good deal more than the $95 it went for on Prime Day in October, but if you like the idea of a warm front light, a bigger screen and a waterproof build, this is a good upgrade from the standard Kindle. 

Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition

We called the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition “the best ereader. Period” in our review of the device when it came out. Right now it’s $50 off, making it $140. It doesn’t have lock screen ads, which come standard on most Kindles, plus it offers an auto-adjusting, warm front light, a waterproof build, wireless charging and an ample 32GB of storage. 

Kindle Kids

The Kindle Kids edition is pretty similar to the standard Kindle but adds a case, a two-year warranty, and a free year of Amazon Kids+, which auto renews at $5 per month. The subscriptions lets kids read a few thousand kid-appropriate titles and listen to hundreds of audiobooks. There's also a parent dashboard that lets you set time limits, add books and track your kid’s reading progress. It usually goes for $120, but now it’s $100 instead. That's $25 more than its lowest price ever during July's Prime Day.

Kindle Paperwhite Kids

The Kindle Paperwhite Kids is essentially the same hardware as the Kindle Paperwhite, but this version comes with a case, a two year guarantee and a free year of Kindle Kids+ content with access to thousands of kid-appropriate books. It’s now $35 off, which is a 21 percent discount that brings it to $135.

Kindle Unlimited

Amazon is also offering Prime members three months of Kindle Unlimited for 99 cents. It’s usually $12 per month and will auto-renew once the trial is over (so set a reminder if you don't want that to happen). A subscription lets you read as many ebooks as you want from a selection of around four million ebooks. Bigger new releases and some of the more popular bestsellers aren’t included. It also includes a few thousand audiobooks, which all models of Kindle support via Bluetooth and headphones.

Amazon Echo and Echo Show Black Friday deals

Echo Dot

Amazon’s most popular smart speaker is the baseball-sized Echo Dot. It’s now down to $23 which matches the all-time low it hit for the last two Prime Days. It’s one of our favorite smart speakers because it pumps out good sound and volume for its size and adds Alexa’s helpful AI assistance to your home. Use it to set timers, tell you the weather and remind you about stuff you need to do and when to do it. It’s also a convenient way to control your other smart home devices, from light bulbs in the ceiling to robot vacs on the floor.

Echo Pop

Amazon’s smallest smart speaker is the Echo Pop, which came out earlier this year. It’s currently down to $18, which matches its all-time low. The colorful half-sphere is perfect for stashing in a corner of a room where you don’t have much space. It’ll let you ask Alexa the time, weather news and more, while also directing the AI to remind you when it’s time to leave for an appointment or shut off the holiday lights. It can also play music, but the sound won’t be as good as it is with larger speakers.

Echo

The Echo is the original Amazon smart speaker and has been refreshed four times since its launch. The latest model updated the shape from a puck to a globe, which makes room for a three-inch woofer and two 0.8-inch tweeters. The result is quality audio with plenty of bass. The highs could be more crisp but overall it’s noticeably louder than its two closest competitors, the Nest Audio or HomePod mini and can fill a room with sound. The Echo is now down to $55, which is the same as it went for during both 2023 Prime sales, though it’s about $5 more than its all-time low. It’s currently our favorite smart speaker under $100 because it combines great sound with all that Alexa can do.

Echo Studio

Amazon’s biggest smart speaker, the Echo Studio, keeps the focus on the sound quality, with three two-inch midrange speakers, a single one-inch tweeter and a 5.25-inch downward-facing woofer packed into its eight-inch frame. The list price is $200 and right now it’s down to $155 which matches its all-time low. We gave the Studio an 88 in our review, impressed by the hi-res sound.

Echo Pop and free Sengled smart bulb

The Echo Pop is a great candidate for a voice-operated smart home controller, which is probably why Amazon is bundling it with a Sengled Smart Bulb. The set costs $38, which is 36 percent off their full prices. The Sengled bulb earned an honorable mention in our guide to smart bulbs for its easy, if slightly unpolished app, and the fact that it outputs millions of colors on any schedule you’d like.

Echo Show 5

The Echo Show 5 is Amazon’s smallest smart display and was completely refreshed back in May of this year. The processor and audio quality were improved, but the device is largely the same, acting as a screen-enabled bedside alarm clock or a handy kitchen display for recipe videos and the like. It’s currently down to $40 which is $50 off and a discount it has hit twice in the past couple months.

Echo Show 8

The mid-sized Amazon smart display, the Echo Show 8 is on sale for $105 instead of $150 and represents its first discount. We did a hands-on with the new Echo Show 8 during Amazon’s devices event this September and were impressed by the new Adaptive Content feature. Depending on how far away from the display you are, the information changes, with simple time and weather info when you’re across the room and more detailed and personalized info, like a playlist or news articles when you’re closer.

Echo Show 10

Do you want a smart display that can track you as you move around the room? The Echo Show 10 with a pivoting base can do just that. The ability should keep you in frame for video calls and make sure you can always see your recipe as you move around the kitchen. The 10-inch screen will keep tabs on your connected cameras and doorbells and the large base housing two one-inch tweeters and a three-inch subwoofer, will deliver quality sound.

Echo Show 15 

The Echo Show 15 is a smart display that verges on smart TV territory and it's one of our recommended gifts for tech folk. It can display your video doorbell feeds, control your smart home devices, act as a widget-driven bulletin board, offer Alexa’s help, and play your shows on streaming apps. The 15-inch screen can be wall-mounted in portrait or landscape and can be operated with the remote, via touchscreen or with your voice. 

Echo Dot Kids

The Echo Dot for kids has the same general design as the regular Dot, but has a cute owl or dragon exterior. It also comes with a free year of Amazon Kids+, which lets young folk access age-appropriate audio books, morning routines and Alexa’s educational skills. The speaker is currently 53 percent off and down to $28. That matches the low it hit for both Amazon Prime sales this year.

Echo Pop Kids

Amazon announced the new kids version of the Echo Pop during its hardware event this fall and it’s already seeing a 54 percent discount, bringing it to $23 and an all-time low. You can get it with Marvel characters or Disney Princesses on the front. It also comes with Amazon Kids+ free for a year. There’s also a bundle that includes a kids Pop and an Echo Glow, a smart night light that lets you set schedules and program its lighting. The Echo Pop Kids with an Echo Glow bundle is 43 percent off.

Ring Video Doorbell and Echo Show 5

The Ring Video Doorbell and an Echo Show 5 make a great smart home starter kit The bundle is now $65, instead of the $190 you'd pay at full price. Currently, both devices are on sale on their own — buying the bundle saves you an extra $10 off their sale prices. The Ring Video Doorbell can run either on your existing doorbell wires or on battery. It shoots motion-triggered 1080p video, and sends it to the Ring app on your phone or directly to your Echo Show 5.

Amazon Fire TV deals

Fire TV Stick 4K Max

The new Fire TV Stick 4K Max is on sale for $40, which is a 33 percent discount and its lowest price since its debut in September. This new model has a faster processor than the previous 4K Max dongle, and is the first stick to support Amazon’s Ambient Experience, which was previously limited to the Fire TV sets. When you’re not watching, the screen can display art, along with widgets for weather, calendar and smart home devices. The Alexa remote lets you search for and play shows and movies just by talking, and also supports Wi-Fi 6E, letting those who’ve upgraded to take advantage of that tri-band connection.

Fire TV Stick Lite

We found Amazon's Fire TV Stick Lite to be the best budget streaming device you can buy — which goes double now that it has dropped to $16. The deal represents a 46 percent discount off the $30 list price (though it often sells for $20). It’s also just a dollar more than its all-time low. The Fire TV Stick Lite doesn't stream content in 4K and can't control a TV's volume or on/off functions, but lets you use all the streaming platforms you subscribe to, presenting them in an interface that’s easy enough to navigate, but we do wish that it didn’t favor and promote Amazon content quite as much as it does.

Fire TV Stick

The standard Fire TV Stick is down to $20, which is 50 percent off the $40 list price (though it's often on sale for $25). The standard stick offers HD content and, unlike the Lite, has the ability to control your TV’s volume and power.

Fire TV 40-inch 2-Series

Many of Amazon’s Fire TVs are discounted, including models from Toshiba and Insignia, but the arguably better sets are the “Amazon-built” ones the company manufactures. The Fire TV 65" Omni QLED Series 4K TV is now 26 percent off and down to $590, the same price it hit in October for Prime Day. It supports 4K content with Dolby Vision, adaptive brightness and includes hands-free Alexa both through built-in speakers on the TV itself, no remote required (though it does come with one).

Amazon Fire tablet deals

Amazon Fire HD 8 tablet

The Fire HD 8 is probably the cheapest way to get a tablet that will actually perform. Right now the latest generation, which came out in 2022, is down to just $60, which is $5 more than it’s all time low, but still $40 off the MSRP. It’s not as fast as the larger Fire HD 10 and doesn’t have the clearest screen at 1,280 x 800 resolution, but it should serve well as a casual streaming device and web browser. Plus it gets 10 hours on a charge and has a lightweight build.

Fire HD 8 Kids

The Fire HD 8 Kids is down to $75, which matches its lowest price. It’s usually $150, but often drops to $100. The kids version has the same hardware as the Fire HD 8, but comes with a kickstand case, a two-year guarantee and a free year of access to Amazon Kids+ which includes age-appropriate games, books, videos and shows. The UI is also simplified for kids and connects to a parental dashboard to help you keep tabs on your kids tablet activities.

Fire HD 10 tablet

Amazon’s revamped Fire HD 10 tablet came out in late September and is already down to $80 for the model with 32GB of storage. That’s 42 percent off and the first discount this generation has seen. This new model is speedier and lighter than before and upgrades the front camera to a 5MP for better video calls. It makes a good couch companion, handling casual streaming and browsing, as well as simpler games. It’s not meant for serious productivity, particularly since it relies on Amazon’s more limited Fire tablet apps library, but for less than $100, it’s hard to beat the price.

Fire HD 10 Kids tablet

Like the Fire HD 10, the Fire HD 10 Kids tablet is a newly refreshed model with a quicker processor and a slightly lighter build. The kids version adds in a protective case with a kickstand, plus access to Amazon Kids+ for a slew of kid-friendly content. It’s currently $65 off making it the cheapest it’s ever been. Amazon makes the Fire HD 10 Kids Pro for older kids. It comes with a slightly less bulky case and allows more access to the web via a filtered browser.

Fire Max 11

Amazon calls the Fire Max 11 their best tablet yet and in our hands-on we were impressed by how much Amazon is offering for the money. It has an 11-inch LCD display, an aluminum frame, an octa-core processor and 4GB of RAM. Like all Fire tablets, you’re limited to the apps within the Fire Tablet App store, so it’s not going to become a laptop-replacing workhorse. But now that it's on sale for $150, matching its all-time low, it’s a good buy for a casual use tablet.

Ring and Blink Black Friday deals

Ring Battery Doorbell Plus

The Ring Battery Doorbell Plus was refreshed this year and is currently seeing a 33 percent discount making it just $120 instead of $180. It captures head-to-toe, 1536p video and in-color night vision and send it to your phone or smart display. The Package Alert feature lets you know when your Amazon (or other) delivery arrives and the two-way audio allows you to communicate with whoever is at the door. It operates on a rechargeable battery pack or you can hardwire it to your doorbell wires for continual power.

Blink Mini with Echo Show 5

The Echo Show 5 is the perfect size for keeping an eye on your Alexa-enabled smart cameras and doorbells, so this Blink Mini bundle makes sense. For $45, you get the 5-inch Echo Show and the wired indoor security cam from Blink. Separately and at full price, you’d pay $80. Right now, the Show 5 alone is down to $40 and the Blink Mini is $20, so you’re still saving $15 on the set.

Ring Video Doorbell

The Ring Video Doorbell is down to $55 after a 45 percent discount. It takes 1080p video triggered by better motion detection, compared to the previous model and offers two-way audio. It also allows for privacy zones and can shoot with night vision, operating on either rechargeable (built-in) batteries or through your existing doorbell hard wires. It connects via Wi-Fi and the Ring app, but if you also connect with an Alexa device, you can enable preset announcements triggered by different actions, like a doorbell press. It's also available as a bundle with an Echo Show 5 smart display for $65, or about $10 less than their individual sale prices. 

Blink Video Doorbell

Both Blink and Ring are owned by Amazon, and both use their individual apps for setup, but also work with the Alexa app and other Amazon smart home devices. Blink just makes one doorbell, the Blink Video Doorbell and it’s less expensive than all Ring models, with a list price of $60. Now it’s half price and down to just $30, which makes it one of the more affordable ways to keep tabs on your porch and packages. Keep in mind that it’s battery-powered only and to see a live view on-demand (as in, not triggered by motion), you’ll need an additional device, the $35 Sync Module 2.

Blink Mini

The indoor, wired Blink Mini security camera is 43 percent off for Black Friday, going for $20 and about $2 more than its all-time low and about $5 less than it often sells for. The camera offers HD video and two-way audio so you can hear and talk to people in the room (or tell the dog to hop off the couch). If you also have a Blink Video Doorbell, the Blink Mini can act as a chime

Blink Outdoor 4

The Blink Outdoor 4 is our preferred outdoor security camera in our smart home guide. Right now it’s half price for a set of two, down to $99 for the set. This latest generation came out in August and supports better motion detection, a wider field of view and infrared night vision. An optional subscription unlocks person detection and allows clips to be stored in the cloud. The mounting kit attaches to a variety of surfaces and thanks to the two-year battery life, you can stick it just about anywhere you want.

Eero deals

Eero Pro 6E mesh Wi-Fi router

If you want to take advantage of that 6 GHz Wi-Fi band, you’ll need a router (and devices) that support it. Amazon’s Eero Pro 6E mesh Wi-Fi router is $400 for a set of three, which covers up to 6,000 square feet. In our tests, the routers performed well enough; they’re easy to set up and use, with an app that has a clean UI and step-by-step instructions. Unfortunately, many of the management features are paywalled, whereas systems from Google offer many of those tools for free.

If you’re not worried about accessing that 6GHz band, a three-pack of the Eero Pro 6 mesh Wi-Fi 6 router may serve you better. It’s currently 40 percent off and down to $240. The set will also cover 6,000 square feet, and can deliver gigabit speeds from ISP plans that offer it. This is technically also a tri-band router, with two antennas for the 5GHz band along with a single 2.4GHz receiver.

A single unit of the Eero 6+ mesh Wi-Fi router is currently $90 after a 36 percent discount. It’s a dual-band, gigabit router with up to 1,500 square feet of coverage.

Your Black Friday Shopping Guide: See all of Yahoo’s Black Friday coverage, here. Follow Engadget for Black Friday tech deals. Learn about Black Friday trends on In The Know. Hear from Autoblog’s experts on the best Black Friday deals for your car, garage, and home, and find Black Friday sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.

With all of the price hikes streaming services have undergone lately, Engadget recently asked whether streaming was still worth it. Ultimately our answer is yes, but we can't help but notice how much more expensive these services are now than they once were. But Black Friday deals this year have discounted a number of the top streaming services available, which means you can save a decent amount of money on the monthly (and sometimes yearly) cost of access. Max, Hulu and Peacock are just a few of the services with Black Friday promotions going on right now, with savings up to 85 percent. The only catch is that most of the deals require you to be a new subscriber, or at least a non-subscriber for a certain period of time. Here are the best Black Friday streaming service deals we could find for 2023.

Peacock

Max

Hulu

Paramount+

Fubo

SlingTV

Philo

Your Black Friday Shopping Guide: See all of Yahoo’s Black Friday coverage, here. Follow Engadget for Black Friday tech deals. Learn about Black Friday trends on In The Know. Hear from Autoblog’s experts on the best Black Friday deals for your car, garage, and home, and find Black Friday sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.

Ereaders like the Kindle Paperwhite make great gifts — especially when they're on sale. The Paperwhite adds a few perks over the standard Kindle, including a warm backlight, a waterproof build and a larger screen. As part of Amazon's Black Friday sale, it's now $20 off the list price, bringing it down to $120. This is the 8GB model with lockscreen ads, which usually promote Kindle books.

Other Amazon ereaders are also on sale, including the standard Kindle, which is down to $80. That's $15 more than the members-only price during Prime Day in July, but the lowest it's sold for since. We tested a number of ereaders for our guide and named the standard Kindle the best budget pick. It doesn't have a warm backlight and isn't waterproof, but it the 300ppi screen is crisp and clear and it grants access to local library books, audiobooks and Kindle's own ebook trove, which is the largest out there thanks to Kindle Exclusive titles that you can't find elsewhere. 

The read/write Kindle Scribe is also discounted, down to $240 for the 16GB model with the Basic Pen. That's $100 discount and the lowest price ever, beating it's members-only Prime Day price by $15. We gave the Scribe an 85 review score, praising the roomy, 10.2-inch screen and premium build. It's also our favorite E-Ink tablet that's does double duty as an ereader. We particularly liked how low the latency is between the pen and the tablet. 

Your Black Friday Shopping Guide: See all of Yahoo’s Black Friday coverage, here. Follow Engadget for Black Friday tech deals. Learn about Black Friday trends on In The Know. Hear from Autoblog’s experts on the best Black Friday deals for your car, garage, and home, and find Black Friday sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.

With all of the price hikes streaming services have undergone lately, Engadget recently asked whether streaming was still worth it. Ultimately, our answer is yes, but we can't help but notice how much more expensive these services are now than they once were. Now that Black Friday is here, you have an opportunity to save a little on the monthly costs of your TV subscription services. Max, Hulu, Paramount+, and a few of the live TV streaming services are currently running discounts, with savings of up to 85 percent. These are the best streaming deals we found for Black Friday 2023 so far. 

Max

Hulu

Paramount+

Fubo

SlingTV

Philo

Your Black Friday Shopping Guide: See all of Yahoo’s Black Friday coverage, here. Follow Engadget for Black Friday tech deals. Learn about Black Friday trends on In The Know. Hear from Autoblog’s experts on the best Black Friday deals for your car, garage, and home, and find Black Friday sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.

Apple has just three smartwatches in its current lineup: the affordable Apple Watch SE, the advanced Apple Watch Ultra 2 and the flagship Apple Watch Series 9. All three offer fitness tracking, safety features, Siri support and iPhone integration, and all come in carbon-neutral configurations. But there are plenty of differences too, not the least of which is pricing: the Apple Watch SE starts at $250, whereas the Ultra 2 will run you a whopping $799. Internal sensors, displays and battery life vary from model to model, as well. In short, deciding the best Apple Watch for you might be trickier than you think. We put together this guide to help you figure out which model makes the most sense for you.

What to look for in an Apple Watch

Chips and sensors

Both the Series 9 and Ultra 2 were recently updated with Apple’s latest smartwatch silicon, the S9 SiP (system-in-package). In addition to on-device processing of Siri requests, the chip supports a new Double Tap gesture that lets you answer calls or stop an alarm by tapping your thumb and forefinger together twice. It also enables faster machine learning performance for interpreting sensor data, recognizing speech and performing other “thinking” tasks. The Apple Watch SE still relies on the S8 SiP, which was also used in the Series 8 and the original Ultra.

Both the Series 9 and Ultra 2 have temperature sensors, which can help track ovulation. The two higher-end models also include blood oxygen sensors and the ability to take an ECG. All three models have a compass, altimeter and support fall- and crash-detection. The Apple Watch Ultra 2 has an on-board SOS siren, as well as dive features like a depth gauge.

Displays and case sizes

The Apple Watch 9 and the Ultra 2 have always-on displays, but you’ll have to lift your wrist to tell time or read notifications on the SE. The SE can reach a maximum brightness of 1,000 nits, the Series 9 can get as bright as 2,000 and the Ultra 2 hits 3,000 nits. Both the higher-end screens can dim to a single nit, making them less distracting in the dark. As for case sizes, the SE is available in 40 or 44mm and the Series 9 comes in 41 or 45mm. The Ultra 2 just comes in one case size measuring 49mm.

Battery life

Since it’s the largest wearable, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 sports the biggest battery and can last for a claimed 36 hours on a charge. That number jumps up to 72 hours if you turn on low power mode. Both the Apple Watch 9 and the SE get 18 hours of life on a charge, and longer when using battery saver mode.

Photo by Amy Skorheim / Engadget

Fitness features

Believe it or not, all three Apple Watches have similar fitness chops. The Activity app uses three “rings” to keep tabs on how much you’re moving in a day: The Move ring tracks your active calories; the Exercise ring monitors the minutes you’ve spent walking, running, doing yoga and so on; and the Stand ring tells you how many hours in a day you’ve stood up and moved around for at least one minute.

Different internal sensors detect those activities, for example the accelerometer senses when you’re moving versus sitting still, and the optical heart rate sensor judges how hard you're working out and how many calories you’ve burned. You can set your goals for each ring and you’ll earn badges and animations when you hit them.

The Workout app lets you start and track an exercise session. The sensors can even auto-detect when you’re working out, tapping your wrist to suggest you track the activity. Apple Watches will integrate with Apple’s Fitness+ subscription, displaying real time heart rate and calorie burn data on your iPhone or iPad as you take a class. Fitness+ also includes audio-guided walks and runs with just your watch and Bluetooth earbuds. All three models support the Activity and Workout apps for free. The Fitness+ app also works with all Apple Watches, but costs $10 per month.

Siri

You can get the weather, start a workout, identify a song and dictate a text just by asking Siri. All Apple Watch models support the Raise to Speak feature that bypasses the need to say “Hey Siri” and will instead listen for your request when you lift your wrist near your mouth.

Both the Series 9 and the Ultra 2 utilize onboard processing of Siri requests. That means executing simple requests like starting workouts and timers are quicker, as they won’t need to access external networks. However, requests like sending texts or getting weather forecasts still need to communicate with Wi-Fi or cellular, so you’ll need to have your phone nearby if you have a GPS-only model.

Price

There’s a $550 difference between the cheapest and most expensive Apple Watch. For $250, you can get the 40mm Apple Watch SE with GPS-only connectivity. The Apple Watch Series 9 starts at $399 for the 40mm model, and if you go for the larger case size for either, you’ll pay $30 more. Adding cellular connectivity adds $50 for the SE and $100 for the Series 9. The latter also comes with the option of a stainless steel case, plus cellular and GPS, and starts at $699. The Apple Watch Ultra 2 has just one price: $799 for a titanium 49mm case with both GPS and cellular power.

Best overall: Apple Watch Series 9

The Apple Watch Series 9 happens to be our favorite smartwatch, period. It’s a notable improvement over the previous generation, with new features like Double Tap, onboard Siri requests, a brighter screen and a new ultra wideband (UWB) chip that can help you pinpoint your misplaced iPhone 15 using the FindMy app.

In her review, Engadget’s Cherlynn Low spent some time working with the Double Tap feature and, while it took a little practice to get the tapping cadence correct, she found it actually did make her life easier. You can use it to dismiss a timer or an alarm, play music or reply to messages. Double tapping also pulls up the Smart Stack, the sequence of watchOS 10 widgets available with the latest software update. You can customize a few of the gesture’s actions, including how it navigates the Smart Stack and music playback.

The Series 9 also handles on-device processing of Siri requests. Though we didn’t notice a huge difference in response time between our review unit and the Series 8, we did like that it lets you ask Siri to start a workout when you’ve left your phone at home. Apple also improved the Raise to Speak feature, using a two-second audio buffer from the always-on mic to better anticipate your Siri needs. Ideally, you should be able to lift your wrist and say your requests without having to use the wake words. We found it only worked half the time, but when it did, it was “almost magical.”

All new tricks aside, the Apple Watch 9 is a steadfast companion for your iPhone, letting you see and respond to notifications without pulling out your handset. The various sensors can give you insights into your overall health and the fitness tracking tools, and Activity rings are both reliable and motivating. We do wish the battery lasted a little longer; you can’t typically get more than a day of use before needing a recharge, which can make it difficult to use the sleep tracking functions.

Read our full review of the Apple Watch Series 9

Best budget: Apple Watch SE (2nd gen)

Apple didn’t make a new generation of the Apple Watch SE when it updated its other two wearables in September, but you still get a lot for just $250. Cherlynn also reviewed the SE when it came out in 2022, calling it “the best smartwatch for the money.” It uses the same chip as the original Ultra and the Series 8, and in our review of the new Series 9, Cherlynn “barely noticed a difference in performance” compared to the previous generation.

That said, there are some trade-offs. You won’t get an always-on display, blood oxygen monitoring or a temperature sensor. The SE also can’t support the new Double Tap feature and requires your phone to be nearby for Siri requests (if you don’t have a cellular-enabled model). Materials-wise, the SE face is covered in Ion-X glass, which is less robust than the sapphire crystal on either the stainless steel Series 9 or the Ultra 2.

That said, the SE has more in common with its pricier sibling than not, including crash detection, heart rate monitoring, emergency calling, and 50 meters of water resistance. Though the screen isn’t quite as bright as the pricier models, we thought it was crisp and easy to read, even in bright sunlight. The fitness tracking is accurate, the design is lightweight and comfortable and the processor is snappy. If you’re looking for a starter smartwatch and don’t mind the few missing features, the SE is still the way to go.

Read our full review of the Apple Watch SE

Best for adventurers: Apple Watch Ultra 2

Apple announced the Ultra 2 at the same event as the Series 9. The Ultra is a big, feature-rich smartwatch with plenty of tools for athletes and outdoor adventurers. It comes in just one variation: a 49mm titanium case with both cellular and GPS connectivity. And interestingly, the latest model carries the same $799 price tag as the previous generation (though the older model is now seeing significant discounts).

Engadget’s Cherlynn Low took the original Ultra out on a hike to take advantage of its outdoor-specific features and the Backtrack function actually saved her and our video producer Brian from taking an unintended detour in the wrong direction. The function lives within the Compass app and lets you set waypoints such as marking the parking lot before you set out. There’s an onboard siren that’s loud enough to alert passersby or emergency personnel to your whereabouts if you should need it.

For water-based activities, the Ultra 2 packs diving features that can measure water temperature, dive duration and gauge up to 40 meters of depth. For workouts closer to home, the dual-frequency GPS gives you more accurate route tracking and pace calculations. And the action button can be programmed to start a workout, control the stopwatch, trigger the flashlight, set a waypoint and more. Just note that we found it pretty easy to accidentally trigger the action button when trying to press the crown, so it may take a little practice.

The new S9 SiP chip enables Double Tap and on-device Siri processing, just as it does on the Series 9. The screen has been bumped up to 3,000 nits and while we didn’t get to take the new model on a hike, the original at 2,000 nits was plenty bright enough in direct sunlight. We like how the new Modular Ultra watch face makes great use of the oversized screen (though that’s also available on the original AWU.) The battery life remains the same at 36 hours, and we got about three days of moderate use out of the Ultra before needing a recharge. The low power mode is particularly impressive, squeezing out many extra hours from a near-empty watch.

Read our full review of the Apple Watch Ultra

A number of Anker chargers, cables, power adapters and other accessories are on sale for Black Friday at Amazon, with discounts of up to 37 percent. One key callout is on our favorite premium power bank, Anker's Prime 20,000 mAH battery with charging base. It's currently down to $130 for the set and the lowest price ever. At full price, we've seen the set go for as high as $200. The base is what makes it really stand apart from other power banks — simply drop the brick on the platform and it starts recharging. 

The screen on the Prime bank is impressive as well, detailing just how much charge the pack has left and how much is heading out of each of the three ports (one USB-A and two USB-C). In our tests, it revived a dead iPhone back to 100 percent in just over an hour and 45 minutes, with enough left over for another three-quarters charge. It brought a spent iPad Air back to full in a little under two hours. Not only is the base an easy way to recharge the battery, it also acts as a charging hub with three ports of its own for powering up other stuff. 

Other Anker accessories we like are seeing big discounts too, including the 67W USB-C charger for 37 percent off, bringing it to $38, matching its all-time low. It has two USB-C ports and one USB-A port, so you can charge your phone, tablet and even a battery pack at one time. 

Our top 65W fast wall charger is Anker's 735 GaN Prime, which is down to a new low price after a 38 percent discount. It's got the same three ports as the above wall adapter and outperformed other contenders in our tests. 

Finally, the diminutive and handy Anker Nano Power Bank is seeing one of its first discounts since coming on the market a couple months ago. It's down to $21 and would make a great stocking stuffer — particularly for those who always seem to have a phone hovering around 5 percent. The small brick has a built-in foldable USB-C connector and in my experience, it got a Galaxy S23 Ultra to 62 percent in about an hour. Plus its easy to use the phone while the bank is pugged in. 

Check out the larger Black Friday Anker sale here.  

Your Black Friday Shopping Guide: See all of Yahoo’s Black Friday coverage, here. Follow Engadget for Black Friday tech deals. Learn about Black Friday trends on In The Know. Hear from Autoblog’s experts on the best Black Friday deals for your car, garage, and home, and find Black Friday sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.

The Elgato Stream Deck+ is down to $170 ahead of Black Friday at Amazon and directly from Elgato. That's a $30 discount and its lowest price ever — a full $10 cheaper than it was for Prime Day in July. Game streamers, podcasters and other creators are likely to find the production console endlessly useful, with its programmable buttons, touch bar and dials for incremental adjustments to app settings. 

This is the newest streaming controller from Elgato and we recommend its 15-key sibling, the MK.2 in our guide to game streaming gear. This one has fewer buttons (8 instead of 15) but it adds in dials and a touch bar that let you make minute adjustments to volume and image levels, light brightness, camera zoom or whatever else you set them to control. The buttons themselves are programmable with icons so you can quickly tell each button apart.  

Stream decks are game changers (no pun intended) for live streamers with a single button press controlling actions that usually take a few steps. Program a button to mute your mic, activate canned audio snippets, trigger on-screen effects, switch cameras or set off lighting schemes. The deck is also useful for non-game streamers too, allowing for shortcuts in Photoshop for graphic designers, enabling controls for an audio producer's DAW or handling functions in Premiere or other video editing programs. 

If you know someone getting into game streaming, this could make a great gift, especially now that it's more affordable than ever. 

Your Black Friday Shopping Guide: See all of Yahoo’s Black Friday coverage, here. Follow Engadget for Black Friday tech deals. Learn about Black Friday trends on In The Know. Hear from Autoblog’s experts on the best Black Friday deals for your car, garage, and home, and find Black Friday sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.

Amazon started its Black Friday deals early this year, and many Amazon devices are on sale right now. We sifted through the sale and selected standout deals on Amazon Kindles, Fire TV sticks, Echo speakers, and Eero routers. There's also a bundle that combines an Amazon display with a doorbell to extend the utility of both. We expect these prices to stay the same through Cyber Monday, so it's probably a safe bet to do the majority of your shopping now.

Echo Show 5

The Echo Show 5 is Amazon’s smallest smart display and was completely refreshed back in May of this year. The processor and audio quality were improved, but the device remains largely the same. It makes a good screen-enabled bedside alarm clock or a handy kitchen display so you can see recipe videos or make calls as you cook. It’s currently down to $40 which is $50 off and a discount it has hit twice in the past couple months.

Ring Video Doorbell and Echo Show 5

The Ring Video Doorbell paired up with an Echo Show 5 is a great starter kit for a connected home. Right now, the two together are $65. Bought separately and at full price, you’d pay $190, though both devices are often discounted, so this deal is about $10 less than the typical sale price for the two. The doorbell runs on battery or your existing doorbell wires and shoots motion-triggered 1080p video, sending it to the Ring app on your phone or directly to your Echo Show 5.

Fire TV Stick 4K Max

The new Fire TV Stick 4K Max is on sale for $40, which is a 33 percent discount and its lowest price since its debut in September. This new model has a faster processor than the previous 4K Max dongle, and is the first stick to support Amazon’s Ambient Experience, which was previously limited to the Fire TV sets. When you’re not watching, the screen will display art, along with widgets for weather, calendar and smart home devices. The Alexa remote lets you search for and play shows and movies just by talking, and also supports Wi-Fi 6E, letting those who’ve upgraded to take advantage of that tri-band connection.

Kindle Scribe

The base model Kindle Scribe with 16GB of storage and Amazon's "Basic Pen" stylus is down to $240, which is $100 off its $340 list price and and a new low price that's $15 less than the members-only deal from Amazon’s July Prime Day. We gave it a review score of 85 when it came out last year and it’s one of our picks in our guide to the best E Ink tablets. At its core, it’s a Kindle ereader that lets you take hand-written notes. That includes drawing, making to-do lists, creating sticky notes and scribbling in the margins of a small selection of Kindle titles (mostly puzzle and journaling books).

Echo Dot

Amazon's most popular speaker, the Echo Dot is back down to $23. That matches its lowest price ever, which it dropped to for both Prime Day sales earlier this year. It's our favorite smart speaker under $50. It does a good job of delivering Alexa's abilities and smart home control and is capable of pumping out louder and cleaner music than you'd expect from such a compact device. It can also set reminders, answer questions and turn off your connected smart lights, just by asking Alexa — which should get even more conversational soon. The Dot with a built-in clock is also on sale, with a 42 percent discount making it $35 or about $5 more than it went for Prime Day in July.  

Echo Pop

Amazon’s smallest Echo speaker, the Echo Pop, is currently down to $18, which is a 55 percent discount and matches its all-time low price. It has the same Alexa-enabled features as a full sized Echo speaker, but takes up a lot less space. Of course, the sound won’t be nearly as full as its larger siblings, so this makes more sense as a way to add the AI's help to the corner of a room than it does as a dedicated music source.

Echo 

The Echo is the original Amazon smart speaker and it's been refreshed four times since its launch. The latest model switched over to the globe shape, which allows for larger and more directional speakers. It's currently down to $55, which is the same as it went for during both 2023 Prime sales, but about $5 more than it sold for last Black Friday. We named it our favorite smart speaker under $100 because it is noticeably louder than it's two closest competitors, the Nest Audio or HomePod mini and can fill a room with sound. The bass is impressive, though the highs could be crisper. It also brings all that Alexa can do to whichever room you park it in. 

Fire HD 10 tablet

Amazon’s revamped Fire HD 10 tablet with 32GB of storage is now down to $80, which is 42 percent off and represents the new model’s first discount since its debut in September. Fire tablets make great couch companions, handling casual streaming and browsing, though they aren’t productivity workhorses. This generation is speedier and lighter than the previous generation and includes a better 5MP camera for video calls.

Echo Show 10

The latest generation of the Echo Show 10 smart display is on sale for $90 off the list price. That makes it $160 and matches its lowest price ever. The Show 10 is unique among smart displays in that it can pivot to face the screen towards you as you move around the room. Combined that with the upcoming chatbot update to Alexa, and it feels like we're getting closer to the advent of house robots. In the meantime, you can use the smart display to show you the weather, tell you a joke or start playing M3gan.   

Eero Pro 6E mesh Wi-Fi router

If you want to take advantage of that 6 GHz Wi-Fi band, you’ll need a router (and devices) that support it. Amazon’s own Eero Pro 6E mesh Wi-Fi router is $400 for a set of three, that's a 27 percent discount and matches the lows it's hit a few times before. The set of three routers should blanket up to 6,000 square feet with Wi-Fi coverage. In our tests, the routers performed well enough; they’re easy to set up and use, with an app that has a clean UI and step-by-step instructions. Unfortunately, many of the management features are paywalled, whereas systems by Google offer many of those tools for free.

Your Black Friday Shopping Guide: See all of Yahoo’s Black Friday coverage, here. Follow Engadget for Black Friday tech deals. Learn about Black Friday trends on In The Know. Hear from Autoblog’s experts on the best Black Friday deals for your car, garage, and home, and find Black Friday sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.

If there’s a book lover on your holiday list, consider yourself lucky. There’s a huge range of gifts you can give them — and you don’t even need to know what’s next up on their to-be-read list. I’m a former bookseller with an abiding fiction habit who now tests book-related (and other) tech. Andrew Tarantola is Engadget’s resident book expert who produces our Hitting the Books column. He’s compiled the ten books he recommends for 2023 and I’ve included ereaders, accessories and subscriptions that I think the reader in your life will appreciate. Here are the best gift ideas for book lovers this year.

Kobo Clara 2E

Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition

Twelve South HoverBar Duo

Sony WH-CH720N

Nimble Champ portable charger

Glocusent Tri-Head Book Light

Audible subscription

Libro.fm subscription

Storygraph Plus

Blood in the Machine

Elon Musk

Extremely Online

The Teachers

Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground

American Prometheus

Starter Villain

The Far Reaches Collection

Optimal Illusions

Mother Brain

According to our testing, Amazon's Fire TV Stick Lite is the best budget streaming device you can buy. And thanks to an early Black Friday deal at Amazon, it's down to just $16. That's a 46 percent discount off the $30 list price (though it often goes for $20) and only $2 more than its all-time low. If you're looking for a way to turn any screen with an HDMI port into a smart TV, this is one of the most affordable ways to do it, particularly now that it's on sale. 

The Fire TV Stick Lite doesn't stream content in 4K and can't control the TV's volume or on/off functions, but it will give you access to all major streaming platforms through Amazon's Fire TV interface. You can also use it to access free ad-supported TV like Amazon's Freevee and PlutoTV. We found the Fire TV interface easy enough to figure out, though we note that it does tend to favor and promote it's own Prime content. The Alexa remote is particularly helpful, letting you launch apps just with your voice. It'll also handle standard requests like weather forecasts and answering questions. If you've got Alexa-enabled smart home devices like a camera or doorbell, the Fire TV Sticks can also send live feeds to your TV, turning it into a smart display of sorts. 

Also included in the early Black Friday deals is the standard Fire TV Stick. It's currently down to $20, which is 50 percent off the $40 list price (though it's often on sale for $25). That said, if you do want a crisper picture, the new Fire Stick 4K is $25, down from $50, while the Fire Stick 4K Max is $20 off at $40. 

Your Black Friday Shopping Guide: See all of Yahoo’s Black Friday coverage, here. Follow Engadget for Black Friday tech deals. Learn about Black Friday trends on In The Know. Hear from Autoblog’s experts on the best Black Friday deals for your car, garage, and home, and find Black Friday sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.