Apple's MagSafe Battery Pack is exactly what it says on the tin: a portable battery that snaps to the back of an iPhone through Apple's MagSafe magnetic charging tech and charges the handset wirelessly. The battery is a tougher sell at full price, but today it's available for $71, which marks the lowest price we've seen to date. For reference, Apple typically sells the device for $99, though its average price online has sat closer to $90 in recent months.
The MagSafe Battery Pack works with any iPhone 12, 13, or 14 model, and using it is as simple as slapping it on the back of one of those devices and letting it do its thing. You don't have to press any additional buttons to start the charge, unlike many third-party competitors. Design wise, it's a slim, matte plastic rectangle that's designed to match the dimensions of an iPhone 12 or 13 mini, so it'll fit entirely within the back of a larger device like the iPhone 14 Pro Max.
Because this is an Apple-made product, it's also able to integrate with an iPhone in ways competing MagSafe batteries can not. You can see the pack's charge level through iOS's Control Center and Batteries widget, for instance, and you can reverse-charge the battery itself from your iPhone when the latter is plugged in. By default, the pack will only charge your phone to around 90 percent to better preserve its efficiency, though you can turn that off if you wish.
If you have a 20W or higher charger and a USB-C to Lightning cable, you can also turn the MagSafe Battery Pack into a 15W wireless charging puck, which gives it a bit of utility when you aren't out of the house. Unfortunately, and perhaps expectedly, Apple doesn't include a cable or power brick in the box, but that's less of a problem if you already own both of those for your iPhone. (If you don't, our guide to the best fast chargers may be of interest.)
When it comes to actually charging your iPhone, the MagSafe Battery Pack is a bit more compromised. Part of that is just due to the nature of wireless charging; the tech has improved over the years, but if you want the fastest charge possible, a cable with a traditional battery pack will usually be quicker to top things off. But the capacity of the MagSafe Battery Pack itself is fairly small at 1,460mAh (or 11.13Wh), so it can only charge a standard iPhone 14 to about 60-65 percent from zero.
We've recommended Anker's 622 Magnetic Battery as a good alternative to the MagSafe Battery Pack in the past; that one has a larger 5,000mAh (19.25Wh) capacity that can get closer to a 80-85 charge on the same phone. It also costs less than Apple's pack even with the latter on sale, has a built-in kickstand, and comes in a wider variety of colors. (The MagSafe Battery Pack is only available in white.) It's not designed as neatly for iPhones and lacks the extras noted above, but it's a better value if you just want more power from a compact MagSafe pack. Anker's 633 Magnetic Battery, meanwhile, has an even greater capacity, albeit in a thicker frame.
Still, since their charging abilities limited, MagSafe packs like these are best thought of as battery extenders, things can use to fill up your phone in a pinch, more than full-on battery packs. For that, the MagSafe Battery Pack is fine, particularly since Apple released a firmware update earlier this year that boosted the pack's charging rate from 5W to 7.5W, which is still slower than using a cable but matches the Anker models above. If you can live with the lesser capacity and know you'll value some of its more iPhone-friendly features, it should be easier to justify at this deal price.
Google's Nest Learning Thermostat is broadly regarded as one of the best smart thermostats you can buy, and right now Wellbots is running a sale that brings the device down to $179 when you use the code THERMOENG at checkout. That isn't the absolute best price we've tracked; this third-generation model launched in 2015, and it's fallen as low as $140 in the seven years since. But this is still a bit lower than most deal prices we see, coming in $70 under Google's MSRP and about $35 below the device's average street price in recent months.
Smart thermostats in general can still be a worthwhile investment for those who want to manage their home's temperature remotely or cut down on their energy usage (usually). The Nest Learning Thermostat makes doing that relatively straightforward, as it's able to gradually learn your heating and cooling preferences over a typical day, then automate future climate adjustments for your home with minimal input. It's still easy enough to make changes manually through Nest's app, but the device is usually able to create an accurate automatic heating or cooling schedule after a week or so of use. It can also use built-in sensors and your phone to tell when nobody is home, then set temperatures to an appropriate energy-saving range until someone returns. Helpfully, it'll give a visual indicator whenever it's set in that range.
If your place has distinct cool or hot spots, or if you prefer to keep certain rooms at specific temperatures, you can also pair the Learning Thermostat with optional temperature sensors to more granularly balance the climate throughout your home. Provided your heating and cooling system is compatible, actually setting up the Learning Thermostat is largely straightforward, and the hardware itself still looks rather clean, with a well-sized display and smooth steel adjustment dial.
The Learning Thermostat is still on the expensive side even with this discount, so it's worth noting that Google still sells a lower-end model called the Nest Thermostat for $130. That one has similar energy-saving and HVAC monitoring features, though it can't learn your temperature habits or work with remote sensors, and it has a cheaper-feeling frame based on touch controls.
The newest high-end thermostats from Ecobee, meanwhile, look to be worthy alternatives if you need support for more smart home platforms (including Apple's HomeKit) or smarter remote sensors that don't have to be programmed individually, a la Nest's. They also have built-in smart speakers. The platform support may be particularly relevant given that Google hasn't committed to the Learning Thermostat supporting the recently launched Matter smart home standard, which is intended to make smart home devices universally compatible. (The cheaper Nest Thermostat will support this, however.) Still, the Learning Thermostat should be the way to go if you want a more "set-and-forget" option, and at this deal price it's a fine value.
A quick PSA for anyone looking to pick up a new laptop ahead of the holidays: The base model of Apple's newest MacBook Air is back down to $1,049 at various retailers, including Amazon and B&H. That matches the best price we've seen for what is currently the top pick in our guide to the best laptops. The notebook has hit this price a couple of times over the last month or so, but the discount still comes in $150 below Apple's MSRP and roughly $85 off the average street price we've tracked online in recent months.
We gave the new MacBook Air a review score of 96 earlier this year, praising its thin and typically well-crafted design, vibrant 13.6-inch display, lengthy battery life, reliable keyboard and trackpad, and fast performance aided by Apple's M2 system-on-a-chip. It's a good ways pricier than the M1-based Air even with this discount, and you'll have to get onboard with an iPhone-like display notch, but the extra cash gets you a sharper 1080p webcam (compared to a 720p unit before), much-improved speakers, slimmer display bezels and faster charging support with a dedicated MagSafe connector, alongside the slightly larger display. The M1 Air is still a fine laptop for everyday use if you're looking to spend less — it's currently available for $899 — but the M2 model is a clear upgrade.
The big caveat to note is specific to this entry-level configuration, which includes 8GB of memory and 256GB of SSD storage. On this model (as well as the base 13-inch MacBook Pro), Apple uses a single NAND chip to hold all 256GB of storage. Higher-capacity SKUs and even the M1 MacBook Air, meanwhile, are equipped with multiple flash storage chips they can use in parallel. This means the base version of the M2 Air is markedly slower in benchmarks when it comes to read and write speeds. If you're looking to do more involved tasks like high-res media editing, it's likely worth stepping up to 512GB version, which is currently $150 off its MSRP as well.
However, for streaming 4K video, web browsing across a bunch of Chrome tabs, word processing, email, lighter editing, and other more common tasks, the real-world differences with this configuration shouldn't be hugely noticeable. The bigger issue might be whether 256GB is enough space for you in the first place. If it is, this deal should still be a good value.
In other Mac deals, the base 13-inch MacBook Pro is down to $1,099, which is within $50 of the lowest price we've seen. We have a harder time recommending that model over the M2 Air given its more dated design and similar storage limitations, but its battery lasts a little longer, and its built-in fan makes it a bit more performant for heavier tasks. If you can't afford to step up to the more powerful 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros, it may be worth considering.
The Hero 11 Black is the latest top-end model in GoPro's long line of action cameras, and as of this writing the camera is now down to $350 at GoPro's online store with a one-year GoPro subscription. This deal technically started last week, but it's still a new low and $50 off the bundle's usual going rate.
As a refresher, GoPro's subscription service costs $50 a year on its own and includes features like unlimited cloud storage — with the ability to have your camera automatically back up footage to the cloud when it's plugged in — automatically generated highlight videos, and up to two discounted camera replacements per year. GoPro normally offers its cameras at a lower upfront cost with a year-long subscription than without, and since you can cancel the service after buying, we'd say there's little reason not to buy the bundle. However, if you don't trust yourself to remember to turn off auto-renew, we'll note the camera alone is currently available for $449 at several retailers.
Either way, we gave the Hero 11 Black a largely positive review when it launched in September. The camera is an iterative upgrade over the excellent Hero 10 Black — which itself looked near-identical to the prior Hero 9 Black — which means it still allows for crisp video at up to 5.3K/60 Hz, 4K/120 Hz, or 2.7K/240 Hz (for extra slow-motion shots), excellent stabilization that keeps moving footage looking smooth, and a rugged, waterproof design that's small enough to fit on a helmet, bike handle, surfboard, or most other tight spots.
Here, though, there's a taller 1/1.9" sensor with an 8:7 aspect ratio, which is more accommodating to shooting vertical video for mobile video apps like TikTok at the same time as more traditional vertical footage. A new shooting mode called "HyperView" uses the taller sensor to take wider-angle video — though our review notes that this is best used with only certain types of action shots — while a 360-degree horizon lock feature keeps shots level even if you fully rotate the camera. Still images have been bumped from 23-megapixels to 27, and you can now shoot higher-quality RAW images in burst mode instead of just JPEG. Beyond that, battery life is mildly improved, there are new night shooting modes for capturing things like star trails, and there's support for more granular 10-bit color across the board.
Action cameras still aren't essential gadgets for most these days, and if you already own a Hero 10, Hero 9, or another cam you're already happy with, there's no pressing need to hop aboard here. If you're looking to upgrade from a Hero 8 or older, however, our review found the Hero 11 to be an easier sell. Right now, GoPro currently has the Hero 10 for the same $349, while the Hero 9 and smaller Hero 11 Black Mini are only $50 less. So, if your smartphone isn't enough for the kind of footage you want to capture, this deal looks to be the better value for those in the market for a higher-end model. A GoPro representative says this offer will run for "another couple of weeks at least," though it's not clear if we'll see any further discounts on Black Friday.
Apple's latest 11-inch iPad Pro has received its first discount, with both Amazon and B&H dropping the 128GB version of the new tablet down to $749. That's a modest $50 off and still rather expensive, but Apple only launched this refresh a couple of weeks ago. If you were already planning on picking up the device ahead of the holidays, this deal lets you save a few bucks over buying from Apple directly. Just know that the deal only applies to the Space Gray model.
The new iPad Pro is a minor refresh compared to the previous model that launched in 2021. The main upgrades are a processor bump — the M1 SoC powering last year's model has been replaced by the M2 SoC first seen in this year's MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro — and a new feature for the second-gen Apple Pencil that lets you preview inputs and effects with the stylus just by hovering it over the display. There's support for WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 networking, too, instead of WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0.
That's about it, though. The M2 chip is a nice raw performance bump for media editing and general futureproofing, but the M1 is still more than powerful enough for most things people would do with an iPad, and the tablet's design and accessory support is otherwise unchanged. The last-gen 11-inch iPad Pro is on sale for $700 as of this writing, so if you're willing to buy an older model to save a bit more cash, that remains a worthwhile option.
That said, if you want the latest and greatest, the 2022 model is still a superb piece of hardware. We gave it a review score of 87 last week. While the more affordable iPad Air offers enough of the same features to be a better value for most — especially with it now discounted to $520 — the 11-inch iPad Pro continues to be a superior piece of hardware, with support for a smoother 120 Hz refresh rate, higher maximum brightness, much improved speakers and Face ID support. It also starts with 128GB of storage; the Air starts with half of that, and you need to jump all the way to a 256GB model if you want to upgrade. Doing that would currently cost you $679 (or $749 at MSRP), which makes the 11-inch Pro's price a bit more competitive, if still pricey.
The 11-inch Pro is still overkill for most people's iPad needs, and even with iPadOS' new Stage Manager multitasking feature, it won't fully replace most people's MacBooks. (The basic 10.2-inch iPad is probably still the best overall bargain for casual iPad users, but that's almost a different class of device at this point.) The 11-inch Pro also lacks the brighter and noticeably more vibrant mini-LED display of the more expensive 12.9-inch Pro. However, this is still a strong choice for power users or serious artist types who are looking to upgrade from an aging iPad Air or iPad Pro. It's possible we'll see a larger discount over Black Friday, but we wouldn't expect it given that the device just released.
In other iPad deals, the cellular version of the 10th-gen iPad is also on sale at $20 off in yellow. We see these kind of minor Apple deals from Amazon fairly often, but again, this is the first discount to date for a brand-new model. Our review found that one trickier to recommend in the context of the wider iPad lineup, but if you need a cellular tablet and can live with a non-laminated display and first-gen Pencil support, it may be of interest.
Black Friday doesn't officially arrive for a few more weeks, but we're already starting to see retailers run early holiday sales on several gadgets we recommend. Roku's Streaming Stick 4K, for instance, has fallen to a new low of $25, while Sony's WH-1000XM5 headphones are back down to the price we saw during Amazon's Prime Early Access Sale last month. There are offers on Amazon and Google devices beyond that, plus discounts on Roombas, MacBooks, Logitech gaming mice, and Samsung storage gear, among others. Here are the best tech deals from this week that you can still get today.
Roku Streaming Stick 4K
Roku
This drop to $25 represents a new low for Roku's Streaming Stick 4K, which is currently the top streaming stick in our guide to the best streaming devices. The streamer has normally retailed closer to $40 in recent months. While it's not as luxurious as a new Apple TV 4K, the Streaming Stick 4K still gives you the essentials in a more affordable package. It's fast enough, it supports all the major streaming services (apart from Twitch), and it works with the big HDR standards (Dolby Vision, HDR10, HDR10+ and HLG). Its tile-based interface is relatively basic and not devoid of ads, but it remains dead-simple to navigate and not as intense about pushing you toward certain services as other streamers. The device also works Apple's AirPlay protocol, so you can beam video to it straight from an iPhone or iPad.
Note that Roku also sells a Streaming Stick 4K+ with an upgraded remote that adds hands-free voice search, a built-in headphone jack for private listening, a rechargeable battery and a lost remote finder function. That device retails for $70, however, and it's not on sale as of this writing. You can still use the Roku app for private listening with the non-Plus model, too. If you prefer a set-top box design and need an Ethernet port, the Roku Ultra is currently discounted to a new low of $70 from its usual $95. And if you prefer the more personalized interface and (far) superior search capabilities of Google's 4K Chromecast, another streamer we recommend, that one is still on sale for $40.
Sony headphone sale
Billy Steele/Engadget
Sony has discounted a number of its most popular wireless headphones ahead of Black Friday, including deals on its best noise-cancelling and true wireless models. Perhaps most notably, the Sony WH-1000XM5 are back down to $348. That's a roughly $50 discount, matching the lowest price to date for what we consider the best wireless headphones you can buy. We gave that pair a score of 95 in our glowing review, but if you want something a bit more affordable, the older but still-capable WH-1000XM4s are available for $228, which also matches an all-time low. (Yes, the names of these things still aren't great.)
The active noise cancellation on both pairs is still among the most effective you can buy, and both headsets come with useful features like a "Speak to Chat" function that automatically pauses your music when you start speaking to someone. The battery on both headphones lasts around 30 hours per charge, which is good, and the two each come with a fun, bass-heavy sound profile out of the box that can be adjusted to something more neutral through an EQ in Sony's companion app.
That said, the XM5s are generally more comfortable to wear for extended periods, and they have a better microphone for making calls. We also found the newer pair to be a bit better at muting out higher- and mid-range noises like human voices, though some may not like that its automatic adjustment system — which re-optimizes the headphone's ANC profile based on your surroundings — can't be turned off. If you prefer physical control buttons to touch inputs or a more neutral default sound, we'll also note that the similarly comfortable Bose QuietComfort 45 is still on sale for $250, though that pair trades away some battery life and extra features by comparison.
If you're looking for noise cancellation in a true wireless form factor, the WF-1000XM4 are available for $178, which again matches the lowest price we've tracked. While Bose's QuietComfort Earbuds II have this pair beat when it comes to raw ANC strength, Sony's earbuds are still far from ineffective, and our review found them to be more well-rounded when it comes to overall features and sound quality. Plus, the Bose earbuds cost $300, and we don't expect them drop this low for Black Friday. Sony's LinkBuds S, meanwhile, are on sale for an all-time low of $128; that model's ANC is a step down from the others noted here, but its design is lighter and more comfortable in the ear.
At $75, this isn't the all-time lowest price we've seen for Amazon's 10.1-inch tablet — the device briefly dropped to $55 at Target earlier this year — but it does match the deals we saw during last year's Black Friday sales and this year's pair of Prime Day events. Discounts on the Fire HD 10 haven't been uncommon over the past year, but most of those sales have dropped the device to either $100 or $110.
When it's discounted to this extent, the Fire HD 10 is a strong value for those who just want a competent tablet for media consumption on the cheap. Amazon's Fire OS still omits access to the Google Play Store and heavily steers you toward the company's own services, but the Fire HD 10's general performance and 1920 x 1200 resolution display are perfectly solid for the money. The device gets a good 12 or so hours of battery life per charge, and a useful "Show Mode" feature lets it double as an Alexa smart display if desired. This deal comes as part of a wider sale on Amazon slates, but of those, the Fire HD 10 should provide the best blend of price and performance for most people.
Apple iPad Air (2020)
Dana Wollman/Engadget
The 256GB variant of Apple's fourth-gen iPad Air is currently on sale for $499 at Walmart, which marks the lowest price we've seen. Now, hear us out on this one. If money is less of a concern, then no, you shouldn't get the 2020 iPad Air when the 2022 model is right there (and still on sale) with its faster M1 chip, upgraded camera, and improved USB-C port. The entry-level 10.2-inch iPad is still a better value for those who just want the essentials, too. However, if you were specifically thinking of getting the new 10th-gen iPad, the last-gen Air packs the same A14 Bionic chip and a nearly identical design (save for a camera on the landscape edge) without giving up support for the second-gen Apple Pencil or a laminated display with a wide color gamut.
The 256GB version of the 10th-gen iPad is priced at $599, so if you must have more than the base 64GB of storage and you can't afford to step up to the current Air, this last-gen model is the better buy despite being two years older. Just note that this deal only applies to certain colorways. Since this looks to be an inventory-clearing situation, we wouldn't be surprised if stock runs dry sooner rather than later, either.
Samsung storage device sale
Samsung
If you're running out of space on your PC, game console, camera or whatever else, Amazon is still running a sale on various Samsung storage devices. Not every deal in the sale is a winner, but the highlights include the 1TB T7 Shield, a ruggedized and water-resistant version of the T7 portable SSD we recommend, marked down to a new low of $90. Though Samsung recently launched a faster 990 Pro internal SSD, the prior 980 Pro is still a fine PCIe 4.0 drive for newer PCs or a PlayStation 5 (with a heatsink), and it's back down to a low of $120 for 1TB. If you need a speedy microSD card, meanwhile, the 256GB Evo Select is a decent buy at $23; that doesn't quite match the all-time low of $20 we saw earlier this year, but it's the best price we've tracked otherwise.
Though no cloud gaming service feels quite as fluid as playing a game locally, NVIDIA's GeForce Now is one of the better takes on the concept, particularly if you already own a hefty library of games on PC. Right now, NVIDIA is running a promotion that doles out a six-month subscription of the "Priority" tier of the service for $30. Normally, that would cost $50. NVIDIA says the deal is only available to new members, free-tier members, Priority members currently on a 1-month subscription plan and "users on an active promotion or gift card," so the idea is to upsell customers who aren't on one of the service's higher-end plans already. This promo is set to run through November 20.
As a refresher, "Priority" is GeForce Now's middle tier: you don't get the 4K/120 fps support of the pricier "RTX 3080" subscription, but you can still stream in resolutions up to 1080p and frame rates up to 60 fps. You're also allotted up to six hours per session instead of the one-hour session length of the service's free tier. (The RTX 3080 tier, meanwhile, allows up to eight-hour sessions.) It's also worth remembering that GeForce Now doesn't follow the same model as other cloud services like Google Stadia (RIP) or Microsoft's Xbox Cloud Gaming: The idea is that you bring games you already own on platforms like Steam or the Epic Games Store, then GeForce Now will let you stream them elsewhere when you're away from your gaming PC. Just make sure enough of your games are actually supported before you take the plunge, and note that your subscription will be set to auto-renew by default.
Google Pixel 6a
Engadget
A quick PSA for anyone looking to buy a good Android phone on a budget: the unlocked Google Pixel 6a is still on sale for $299, which matches the lowest price we've tracked. The handset has a list price of $449, but we've typically seen it float between $350 and $400 over the past few months.
We recommend the Pixel 6a in our best smartphones guide, and we gave it a review score of 89 back in July. Like past Pixel phones, the main perks here are stellar camera performance and a clean take on Android, with OS and security updates guaranteed into 2025 and 2027, respectively. The first-gen Google Tensor chip and 6.1-inch OLED display compare favorably to most phones in this price range, and while its back is made of plastic, the design doesn't look cheap. It's also IP67-rated for dust and water resistance. The 6a isn't without flaws: There's no headphone jack or wireless charging support, the display is limited to a 60Hz refresh rate, and the battery life, while good, isn't top-of-the-line. Still, for less than $300, it's difficult to do better.
Amazon Echo Show 5
Nicole Lee/Engadget
It's a good week to be in the market for a smart display, as nearly all of Amazon's Echo Show devices are on sale. Among the highlights, a two-pack of the diminutive Echo Show 5 is down to $60 when you use the code SHOW52PK at checkout. That's about a $20-25 savings off a two-pack's usual street price in recent months. Individual models are on sale for $35, which is a price we've seen a handful of times lately but still a solid value. We gave the 5.5-inch display a review score of 85 last year: You won't want to use it for more involved smart home tasks or video calls, but it works particularly well when used as a smarter alarm clock.
If you'd prefer something bigger and faster, both the 10.1-inch Echo Show 10 and 15.6-inch Echo Show 15 are still available for a low of $170, though our reviews for those devices had a few more reservations by comparison. If you prefer to use the Google Assistant instead of Alexa, meanwhile, Google's seven-inch Nest Hub also plays nice on a bedside table, adding a modicum of sleep tracking functionality and removing any built-in camera. We gave that one a score of 89 last year, and it's currently back to its usual deal price of $50.
At $179, this deal matches the best price we've seen for iRobot's Roomba 694, the top pick in our guide to the best budget robot vacuums. We've seen this price a few times over the course of the year, though over the past few months the device has retailed closer to $225 on average.
We've found the Roomba 694 to be a dependable and easy-to-manage robovac, with decent battery life of at least 45 minutes per charge — and potentially longer depending on the mix of surfaces in your home — and a sturdy design that'll survive its inevitable bumps into your furniture. Since it's WiFi-enabled, you can turn it off and on, and set cleaning schedules, through the iRobot app. You still get what you pay for: Pricier robovacs will be more robust at cleaning larger spaces, and they'll do so in a more orderly fashion than the semi-random, "bump and run" style of the 694 here. (A couple of higher-end Roombas are also on sale as of this writing.) If you only need to clean a smaller area, though, or if you're willing to trade some cleaning smarts for something a bit more affordable, the 694 should do the job at this deal price.
Logitech G Pro X Superlight
Igor Bonifacic / Engadget
Logitech's G Pro X Superlight is a high-performing gaming mouse we like for both work and play, and right now it's down to its all-time low of $110, or about $25 off its usual street price. That's still not cheap, but G Pro X Superlight stands out for being exceedingly light (at roughly 63 grams), quick to glide (with its PTFE feet), and consistently responsive in faster-paced games. It has a particularly comfortable scroll wheel, too. You only get a couple of customizable shortcut buttons, and the whole thing only connects over a USB dongle, not Bluetooth. Still, we've found the design comfortable for most hand sizes and grip types. You should still only get a mouse like this if you're serious about PC gaming, but if that's the case, this one should serve you well in and out of those twitchy FPS games. Note that this discount is just one of a handful of deals currently available for mice we recommend.
We've seen Apple's M1 MacBook Air fall to $799 a few times in recent weeks, but if you missed out before, this is still a nice opportunity to save on what remains a commendable laptop for lighter work and casual use. The average street price for this SKU has sat around $920 in recent months.
If you can afford to step up to the newest MacBook Air model based on Apple's M2 chip, you still should: it packs a refreshed design, a bit more performance, a vastly superior webcam and speaker system and a brighter display, among other upgrades. But if you could use the savings, the M1 chip in found in the 2020 MacBook Air is still plenty performant for most tasks, while the notebook's battery life, keyboard, trackpad and overall build quality remain excellent. The 720p webcam, on the other hand, is a disappointment, and the 8GB of RAM and 256GB of SSD storage in this specific SKU aren't well-suited to heavier-duty work. But for everyday browsing, streaming and word processing, the M1 Air remains a solid value at $799.
48-inch LG A2 OLED TV
LG
The 48-inch version of LG's A2 OLED TV is still available for $570 at Best Buy, which is the best price we've tracked and matches the lowest price we saw for last year's A1 model in the same size. This is LG's entry-level OLED TV, so it's limited to 60 Hz and lacks gaming-friendly features like a variable refresh rate or HDMI 2.1 ports. If you're looking for a secondary TV away from the living room, though, the A2 still gets you the deep contrast, vibrant colors, and wide viewing angles you'd expect from a good OLED TV. Best Buy is advertising this offer as part of an ongoing "early Black Friday" sale, so we'd expect this to be the lowest price we'll see for this model over the holidays. If you're willing to trade some picture quality for a more striking design, meanwhile, we're still seeing sales on Samsung's The Frame TVs as well.
I’ve reviewed consumer tech professionally for a little over a decade now, and in that time I’ve worn hundreds of headphones. I’ve tested reference pairs that cost as much as $4,000, played with tons of gaming headsets, and seen firsthand (first-ear?) as the industry has shifted toward wireless models with increasing computer-like functionality.
And yet, for people who real5ly care about how their music sounds, the easiest recommendation I can give is still a 17-year-old pair of wired “clip-on” headphones that cost $20 and look like something you’d get for free on a flight in the ‘90s. I purchased my first pair of Koss KSC75s many years ago, but for my money, they remain the best-sounding audio thing you can buy for $20. In a market that regularly uses the power of #branding to get you to pay more for basic functionality, the KSC75 are an honest anomaly. They promise quality sound at a consumer-friendly price and nothing more, and they deliver on that.
A brief history lesson: The KSC75 arrived in 2005 as a more affordable follow-up to the Koss KSC35, a similar set of ear-clip-style headphones that launched in 1995 and cost $45. Wisconsin-based Koss has long held a reputation among audio enthusiasts for good value plays, specifically with a series of headphones all based around the same 60 ohm driver, which the company has produced for decades. The most well-known of these is probably the near-40-year-old Koss Porta Pro — which still holds up itself, but is pricier and a bit flimsier in design — though other retro-style pairs like the Sporta Pro and KPH30i are built around it as well. The KSC75 (and a few others) use a version of the driver coated in titanium, however; this, combined with their lightly-clamping fit and open-back design, gives the KSC75 their own sort of sound by comparison.
And that sound is great. The emphasis here is on the midrange, which largely comes off as balanced and natural. There’s a bit of extra brightness to the treble, but not so much that higher-frequency sounds are overly sharp. The open nature of the design lends everything a pleasing sense of space, and the various elements of a given track generally always sound like they’re in the right place. The design does mean there’s practically zero sub-bass, so you don’t get any of that feel-it-in-your-chest thump from lots of hip-hop or dance tracks, but the upper-bass range that is present has enough juice to keep most songs from sounding too thin.
Jeff Dunn/Engadget
All told, this is an agreeable sound, one that’s ideal for those looking to get into more critical listening. The KSC75 doesn’t go all-in on the bass like many popular headphones these days, and while it’s a pleasure with all types of music, it plays especially nice with folksy rock or richer recordings. Beyond that, its light weight and emphasis on the vocal range makes it a natural option for podcasts and audiobooks. When I’m not in a party chat, it’s also my go-to for gaming, since its balanced tuning and wide soundstage are ideal for, say, accurately locating other players in an FPS like Overwatch or Halo.
Now, I don’t want to sound naïve. There’s a perfectly decent amount of detail here, but a good set of modern, higher-end headphones will still pick up more of a track’s nuances. And again, the utter lack of sub-bass should make it a no-go for bassheads.
Plus, since this design was something of an outlier even in 2005, it forgoes basically all of the conveniences of a modern headphone. There’s no microphone, no built-in controls, and no sweat resistance rating. Because the design is open, it blocks next to no outside noise, and everyone around you will hear whatever you’re listening to if you turn things up to even a moderate volume. None of this is ideal for travel or working out.
The KSC75’s clip-on shape is light and comfy to my ears, but it won’t be for everyone. (Lots of people buy these earpads from Japanese company Yaxi to heighten the comfort, but I wouldn’t say they’re necessary for most.) The build mostly consists of cheap silver plastic, and there are many stories of its non-detachable cable breaking over time. (Though Koss’ lifetime limited warranty effectively lets you replace them ad infinitum for $9 a pop.) These are also wired headphones in a world that is actively eradicating the headphone jack, so if you want to use them on the go, chances are you’ll need a dongle.
But that $20 price goes a long way. Saying the KSC75 is a great value is practically a meme among audio enthusiasts at this point — not in the “lol funny photo” sense, but in the “symbolic idea that spreads and embeds itself within a culture” way. Still, it’s true: the KSC75’s sound quality is practically unmatched in its price range and competitive with many headphones that cost $100 or more. They’ve gotten me through many hours of working from home. If all you want is an affordable headphone that helps you better savor your music, I bet you’ll enjoy them too.
Amazon's Fire HD tablets are still worthy options if you just want a competent media consumption device for as little money as possible, and within that lineup, the Fire HD 10 provides the best value for most. This is especially the case when the device is discounted, and as of this writing the 10.1-inch slate is back on sale for $75 at Amazon and Best Buy, among other retailers.
While this isn't the absolute lowest price we've seen — the tablet was briefly available for $55 at Target earlier this year — it does match the price we saw during last year's Black Friday sales and Amazon's latest Prime Day events. The 32GB model here technically has an MSRP of $150, though a handful of smaller discounts have dropped its average street price closer to $130 in recent months.
This is a nice price for what was already one of the better values on the tablet market. Like Amazon's other Fire tablets, the Fire HD 10 is a no-frills device: It's largely made of matte plastic, the front and rear cameras are mediocre, and very little about its performance or design feels as premium as what you'd get from even an entry-level iPad. But for the money, it's all good enough if you're just looking for casual web browsing, ebook reading, video streaming, and Alexa stuff. Its eight-core MediaTek Helio P60T processor and 3GB of RAM won't blow anyone away — don't expect much in the way of gaming — but it can handle the basics without consistent slowdowns, and it's generally more fluid than the lower-cost models in the Fire lineup.
Similarly, the 10.1-inch panel isn't the brightest or most vibrant you'll see, but it's plenty fine for $75. Again, its 1920 x 1200 resolution is a firm step-up from the lower-res Fire 7 or Fire HD 8, and simply having more real estate makes it more pleasing for Zoom calls and video streams. The tablet gets a good 12-ish hours of battery life per charge, and it charges over USB-C. While the discounted model here only has 32GB of built-in storage, you can expand that with a microSD card. (A version with 64GB of storage is also on sale for $95.)
The caveat with any Amazon tablet is, as always, software. Amazon's Fire OS is still a forked version of Android that lacks access to the Google Play Store — and thus, native Google apps like Gmail or YouTube — and frequently pushes you toward the company's own apps, services and online store. There are still lock screen ads, and it still costs a $15 fee to get rid of them. It remains easy enough to sideload the Play Store and its more expansive app library, but that's clearly not the most user- or security-friendly solution. Instead, a Fire tablet will work best if you stick to Amazon apps like Kindle and Prime Video, popular apps like Netflix or basic web browsing. All that said, the OS is still fairly robust when it comes to parental controls and supporting multiple user profiles, and there's still a handy "Show Mode" that can essentially turn the tablet into an Echo Show-like smart display when you're not holding it.
The deal here comes as part of a wider sale on Amazon tablets. The Kids and Kids Pro versions of the Fire HD 10, for instance, are both back to their all-time lows at $120. Those come with large protective bumper cases (the Pro's is a bit slimmer), two-year warranties and a year of Amazon's Kids+ child-focused content service, though their hardware is otherwise identical, and it's worth noting that you can set up a kid-friendly profile on the base Fire HD 10 as well.
The Fire HD 10 Plus, meanwhile, is on sale for $105, which matches the lowest price we've tracked. That one adds another gigabyte of RAM and wireless charging support, which are nice upgrades — particularly if you want to use that smart display functionality — but nothing we'd call essential for most people in the market for a good affordable tablet. We'll also note that the Fire 7 is down to a new low of $42, but we'd recommend waiting for the recently-updated Fire HD 8 and its altogether superior hardware to go on sale if you're simply looking for the cheapest usable slate.
Amazon's Fire HD tablets are still worthy options if you just want a competent media consumption device for as little money as possible, and within that lineup, the Fire HD 10 provides the best value for most. This is especially the case when the device is discounted, and as of this writing the 10.1-inch slate is back on sale for $75 at Amazon and Best Buy, among other retailers.
While this isn't the absolute lowest price we've seen — the tablet was briefly available for $55 at Target earlier this year — it does match the price we saw during last year's Black Friday sales and Amazon's latest Prime Day events. The 32GB model here technically has an MSRP of $150, though a handful of smaller discounts have dropped its average street price closer to $130 in recent months.
This is a nice price for what was already one of the better values on the tablet market. Like Amazon's other Fire tablets, the Fire HD 10 is a no-frills device: It's largely made of matte plastic, the speakers and cameras are mediocre, and very little about its performance or design feels as premium as what you'd get from even an entry-level iPad. But for the money, it's all good enough if you're just looking for casual web browsing, ebook reading, video streaming, and Alexa stuff. Its eight-core MediaTek Helio P60T processor and 3GB of RAM won't blow anyone away — don't expect much in the way of gaming — but it can handle the basics without consistent slowdowns, and it's generally more fluid than the lower-cost models in the Fire lineup.
Similarly, the 10.1-inch panel isn't the brightest or most vibrant you'll see, but it's plenty fine for $75. Again, its 1920 x 1200 resolution is a firm step-up from the lower-res Fire 7 or Fire HD 8, and simply having more real estate makes it more pleasing for video streams and quick Zoom calls. The tablet gets a good 12-ish hours of battery life per charge, and it charges over USB-C. While the discounted model here only has 32GB of built-in storage, you can expand that with a microSD card. (A version with 64GB of storage is also on sale for $95.)
The caveat with any Amazon tablet is, as always, software. Amazon's Fire OS is still a forked version of Android that lacks access to the Google Play Store — and thus, native Google apps like Gmail or YouTube — and frequently pushes you toward the company's own apps, services and online store. There are still lock screen ads, and it still costs a $15 fee to get rid of them. It remains easy enough to sideload the Play Store and its more expansive app library, but that's clearly not the most user- or security-friendly solution. Instead, a Fire tablet will work best if you stick to Amazon apps like Kindle and Prime Video, popular apps like Netflix or basic web browsing. All that said, the OS is still fairly robust when it comes to parental controls and supporting multiple user profiles, and there's still a handy "Show Mode" that can essentially turn the tablet into an Echo Show-like smart display when you're not holding it.
The deal here comes as part of a wider sale on Amazon tablets. The Kids and Kids Pro versions of the Fire HD 10, for instance, are both back to their all-time lows at $120. Those come with large protective bumper cases (the Pro's is a bit slimmer), two-year warranties and a year of Amazon's Kids+ child-focused content service, though their hardware is otherwise identical, and it's worth noting that you can set up a kid-friendly profile on the base Fire HD 10 as well.
The Fire HD 10 Plus, meanwhile, is on sale for $105, which matches the lowest price we've tracked. That one adds another gigabyte of RAM and wireless charging support, which are nice upgrades — particularly if you want to use that smart display functionality — but nothing we'd call essential for most people in the market for a good affordable tablet. We'll also note that the Fire 7 is down to a new low of $42, but we'd recommend waiting for the recently-updated Fire HD 8 and its altogether superior hardware to go on sale if you're simply looking for the cheapest usable slate.
Amazon's Fire HD tablets are still worthy options if you just want a competent media consumption device for as little money as possible, and within that lineup, the Fire HD 10 provides the best value for most. This is especially the case when the device is discounted, and as of this writing the 10.1-inch slate is back on sale for $75 at Amazon and Best Buy, among other retailers.
While this isn't the absolute lowest price we've seen — the tablet was briefly available for $55 at Target earlier this year — it does match the price we saw during last year's Black Friday sales and Amazon's latest Prime Day events. The 32GB model here technically has an MSRP of $150, though regular discounts mean its average street price has fallen closer to $130 in recent months.
This is a nice price for what was already one of the better values on the tablet market. Like Amazon's other Fire tablets, the Fire HD 10 is a no-frills device: It's largely made of matte plastic, the front and rear cameras are mediocre, and very little about its performance or design feels as premium as what you'd get from even an entry-level iPad. But for the money, it's all good enough if you're just looking for casual web browsing, ebook reading, video streaming, and Alexa stuff. Its eight-core MediaTek Helio P60T processor and 3GB of RAM won't blow anyone away — don't expect much in the way of gaming — but it can handle the basics without consistent slowdowns, and it's generally more fluid than the lower-cost models in the Fire lineup.
Similarly, the 10.1-inch panel isn't the brightest or most vibrant you'll see, but it's plenty fine for $75. Again, its 1920 x 1200 resolution is a firm step-up from the lower-res Fire 7 or Fire HD 8, and simply having more real estate makes it more pleasing for Zoom calls and video streams. The tablet gets a good 12-ish hours of battery life per charge, and it charges over USB-C. While the discounted model here only has 32GB of built-in storage, you can expand that with a microSD card. (A version with 64GB of storage is also on sale for $95.)
The caveat with any Amazon tablet is, as always, software. Amazon's Fire OS is still a forked version of Android that lacks access to the Google Play Store — and thus, native Google apps like Gmail or YouTube — and frequently pushes you toward the company's own apps, services and online store. There are still lock screen ads, and it still costs a $15 fee to get rid of them. It remains easy enough to sideload the Play Store and its more expansive app library, but that's clearly not the most user- or security-friendly solution. Instead, a Fire tablet will work best if you stick to Amazon apps like Kindle and Prime Video, popular apps like Netflix or basic web browsing. All that said, the OS is still fairly robust when it comes to parental controls and supporting multiple user profiles, and there's still a handy "Show Mode" that can essentially turn the tablet into an Echo Show-like smart display when you're not holding it.
The deal here comes as part of a wider sale on Amazon tablets. The Kids and Kids Pro versions of the Fire HD 10, for instance, are both back to their all-time lows at $120. Those come with large protective bumper cases (the Pro's is a bit slimmer), two-year warranties and a year of Amazon's Kids+ child-focused content service, though their hardware is otherwise identical, and it's worth noting that you can set up a kid-friendly profile on the base Fire HD 10 as well.
The Fire HD 10 Plus, meanwhile, is on sale for $105, which matches the lowest price we've tracked. That one adds another gigabyte of RAM and wireless charging support, which are nice upgrades — particularly if you want to use that smart display functionality — but nothing we'd call essential for most people in the market for a good affordable tablet. We'll also note that the Fire 7 is down to a new low of $42, but we'd recommend waiting for the recently-updated Fire HD 8 and its altogether superior hardware to go on sale if you're simply looking for the cheapest usable slate.
