It may be too early for you to think about the upcoming school year, but it can’t hurt to get a jump-start on planning. We don’t mean to take away from the myriad beach days and barbecues you have planned for the rest of the season – we merely want to help you prep for school as efficiently as possible, so you’re not scrambling as we get closer to that return date.
Enter our annual back-to-school gift guide, where we curate the best gadgets available to help you write those term papers, ace those exams and study more efficiently. As always, we have a slew of laptop recommendations for all kinds of students, including budding streamers who need a laptop suitable for both work and play. Plus, we have lists of our favorite streaming hardware, dorm room essentials and even free services that will come in clutch for students. We’ve also collected the best student discounts we were able to find from all over the web, including the likes of Apple, Samsung, Amazon, Microsoft and others.
In addition, this year we dove deeper into students’ productivity needs. If you’ve wanted to clean up your Google Drive files and folders but have no idea where to start, we’ve got you covered. And if you’ve ever driven yourself to the brink trying to edit (or even worse, sign) and PDF properly, one of our guides can help you out.
We know returning to school isn’t the highlight of everyone’s year. You may even feel more anxious about it this time around than before, for a variety of reasons. We hope our product recommendations, how-tos and guides can alleviate some of that stress and help you live your best academic life.
There are no shortage of robot vacuum deals for Prime Day, but some of the most affordable devices lie in Anker's Eufy family. A number of those robo-vacs are on sale for Amazon's shopping event, with one of our favorites being 48 percent off. You can pick up the Eufy RoboVac 11S Max is down to inly $130 right now, or nearly half off its original price. Another solid pick, the Eufy RoboVac X8 Hybrid, is $270 off and down to $380, which is the best price we've seen it.
The 11S Max is actually a stronger version of the robot vacuum that made it into our budget robot vacuum guide. The standard 11S has 1300Pa of suction power, while the Max has 2000Pa, so you're getting a device that should do an even better job of sucking up dirt and debris. Otherwise, the 11S Max is basically the same as the standard model: at only 2.85-inches tall, it's slim enough to get underneath some furniture and it'll return to its base when it needs a recharge. It's not a WiFi-connected robot vacuum, which means you can't control it from your smartphone. However, it comes with a handy remote that has options for most of the big things you'd want to do with a robo-vac like change cleaning modes, set schedules and more.
While the 11S Max is probably best for those who aren't sure how much they'll use a robot vacuum, the X8 Hybrid is for those who know a machine like this will fill a void in their home. It's a vacuum-and-mop hybrid device that comes with a 250-milliliter water tank that you can fill when you want to run a mopping job. As a vacuum, though, it's pretty powerful and we appreciated its accurate home-mapping skills, four different cleaning modes and its "tap and go" feature, which lets you send the machine to a specific spot in your home to clean.
The Meta Quest 2 is already pretty affordable at $299, but now Amazon is sweetening the deal by bundling it with a free $25 gift card. While you still have to pay its full price upon checkout — that's $299 for the headset with 128GB of storage — the deal still translates to seven percent in savings when you factor in the gift card you're getting from the purchase. You can also get the 256GB version of the headset formerly known as the Oculus Quest 2 with a free $25 gift card, though that option will set you back $399.
We found the Meta Quest 2 to be an excellent standalone VR headset when we reviewed the device back in 2020. It's smaller than its predecessor and around 10 percent lighter, making it more comfortable to use. It has fast-switching LCDs with a resolution of 1,832 x 1,920 per eye and have 50 percent more pixels than the previous model. Shortly after the device's release, Meta rolled out an update that enabled 90Hz refresh rate for games, as well.
We also praised Meta for addressing people's concerns with the first Quest's hardware. That said, you need a Facebook account to be able to use the headset, at least for now. The company is changing that requirement soon and will instead require users to have a Meta account, which doesn't have to be linked to Facebook.
Amazon's free $25 gift card offer will only be available until the end of the day. Take note that the gift card might ship separately from the headset itself and might arrive at a different date.
Amazon has announced a new version of its smart shopping cart. The new Dash Cart can transport more groceries and includes new features. Amazon says the latest version can carry four grocery bags, up from two previously, and has dedicated shelves for delicate and oversized items. The latest version is also weather-resistant so you can take it to your car.
As before, the cart will automatically weigh produce and keep a real-time tally of all the food you buy. Amazon has tweaked the software on the touchscreen to display images of nearby fresh fruit and produce. The company's software will now also do a better job of keeping track of where the cart is in stores and notifying you of deals. Lastly, the latest version has a bigger battery, which should translate into the new Dash Cart being more frequently available for customers to use.
Speaking of availability, Amazon is finally bringing the Dash Cart to Whole Foods, starting with the chain’s Westford, Massachusetts location and expanding to “a few additional” stores in the coming months. Previously, Dash Carts were only available at the company’s Amazon Fresh grocery stores, of which there are only about two dozen locations in the US at the moment.
Once Dash Carts arrive at your local Whole Foods, you can start using them by scanning the QR code you find on each one in the Amazon or Whole Foods Market apps. As you find items you want to buy, you scan them with one of the cameras near the cart's handlebar. Once you’re done shopping, you exit the store through the dedicated Dash Cart lane. Amazon will automatically bill the credit card associated with your account, and you’ll get an emailed receipt after leaving the store.
The latest portable drive to be added to Samsung's T7 family is cheaper than ever for Amazon Prime Day. The new T7 Shield in 1TB is down to a new record low of $100, which is $60 off its normal price. The 2TB model is $90 off and down to only $200, too. This SSD is only a few months old as Samsung released it in April, so now's a great opportunity to grab it while you can pick it up at a discount.
The T7 Shield is essentially a tougher version of the standard T7. It has a rubberized exterior that surrounds its aluminum body, giving it extra durability and drop protection. Samsung claims the SSD can easily survive p to 9.8-foot drops, plus it has an IP65 rating for water- and dust-resistance. This might sound like overkill for a device that you may intend to keep in your backpack or on your desk at home, but it'll provide extra peace of mind if you ever need to travel with the SSD and work with it in the go.
When it comes to performance, the T7 Shield supports read/write speeds of up to 1,050 MB/s and 1,000 MB/s, respectively, and it works with most devices including Macs, PCs, Android devices, game consoles and more. That's due in part to the fact that the drive comes with both USB-C to C and USB-C to A cables, allowing you to connect it to many different types of gadgets. We also appreciate that it supports AES 256-bit hardware encryption as well.
It's no secret that Amazon devices are some of the best things to buy on Prime Day. Amazon usually discounts most of its gadgets to record-low prices for the two-day shopping event, but Prime members can take advantage of great sales now. In addition to bringing devices like the Echo Dot and the Fire TV Cube down to their best prices yet, early Prime Day deals have discounted a bunch of Amazon device bundles, too. Here are the best deals we found on bundled Amazon devices that you can get before Prime Day begins.
Echo Dot + smart plug
Amazon
Adding an Amazon smart plug to your purchase when you pick up an Echo Dot will only cost you $5 more, so you'll get both devices for a total of $25. While the Echo Dot can act as your main Alexa voice control device, Amazon's smart plug can also be controlled via the Alexa mobile app, allowing you to turn "dumb" items around your home into smart ones.
The full-sized Echo is on sale for $60, but you can add a Sengled smart light bulb to your order for no additional cost. It's one of Sengled's Bluetooth color smart bulbs, which means it'll be easy to set up using only your smartphone and then you can control it using Alexa voice commands.
If you're considering a Ring Doorbell for your home, you can pick up the wired model and add an Echo Show 5 into the mix and pay only $100 in total. These two devices work well together: the smart doorbell will show you any visitors that end up on your doorstep, while the Echo Show 5 can display the live feed from the doorbell's camera.
Both Amazon's smart thermostat and the Echo Show 5 have been discounted for Prime members, so the company made it easy for you to pick up both in a bundle that costs $77. That's nearly half off of the normal cost of buying both items together, making this a good deal for those that want to kickstart their smart home plans without spending too much money.
If you're picking up an Echo Show 5 Kids for your children to use, you can add the Echo Glow smart lamp to your order for only $11 more. This edition of the Show 5 includes one year of Amazon Kids+, while the Glow lets you program light cues to go along with routines you have for your children like waking up, playtime and getting ready to go to bed.
Prime members can pick up two Blink Minis for the price of one, for a total of $30. That's 54 percent off the bundle's usual price and the cheapest we've seen it. While the Mini's main drawback when compared to standard Blink cameras is that it must be plugged in, it otherwise works just like Blink Indoor security cameras. It records in 1080p and supports two-way audio and motion detection.
Amazon's bundle that includes the Blink Video Doorbell and a Blink Outdoor camera system gives you much of what you'd need to keep track of your home both when you're there and not. Prime members can get the bundle for $90 right now, or $55 off its usual price. The smart doorbell lets you see who's outside your home at any time, plus talk to them using the device's two-way audio feature. The Blink Outdoor cam can be used inside or outside to provide another view of your home. Best of all, the bundle comes with a Sync Module, which you'll need to use both devices.
The Kindle Essentials bundle, which includes the latest version of the e-reader, a fabric cover and a power adapter, is 48 percent off and down to $73. It's a good pack to get if you've just wanted a basic e-reader along with two of the most popular accessories to go along with it. We gave the Kindle a score of 91 for its higher-contrast display, improved front lighting and slimmer design.
The most powerful streaming stick that Amazon makes, the Fire TV Stick 4K Max, can be bundled with a Luna game controller for a total of $95, which is 24 percent off. These can be used together as you can access Amazon's cloud gaming service on your TV using the Fire TV Stick 4K Max and play using the Luna controller. When you're not gaming, you can use the dongle to watch any of the most popular streaming services and the controller with other devices by connecting it via Bluetooth.
There's no need to wait for Prime Day for a decent deal on a Kindle, especially if you're looking to pick one up for a younger person in your life. Prime members can pick up the Kindle Kids edition for $50, which is $10 cheaper than the previous all-time-low price. The usual price of the e-reader is $85.
It's a 10th-gen Kindle that comes with a two-year worry-free guarantee. Amazon will replace the device if it breaks for any reason. It's a proper e-reader, not a rugged toy, so that guarantee might come in handy. Kindle Kids does, however, come with a kid-friendly cover.
You'll also get one year of access to Amazon Kids+, which includes access to thousands of kid-friendly books, including the Ramona Quimby and Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. Parents can view their kids' reading progress and set educational goals. Amazon Kids+ usually costs $5 per month.
Meanwhile, you can also pick up the 2019 edition of the Fire 7 without breaking the bank, since that's also down to a record low. The tablet is currently $30, which is 40 percent off the regular price. It's another low-cost device that could be a solid option for a child, especially if you pick up a kid-friendly case for it.
This model comes with 16GB of storage, which you can expand with a microSD card. Amazon says it will run for up to seven hours on a single charge, which could make it useful for watching movies in the back seat during a road trip. There are parental controls you can use to make sure little ones aren't doing anything they're not supposed to.
If you're looking to experiment more in the kitchen, sous vide cooking could be a way to do that. Anova makes a couple of WiFi-connected sous vide machines that we like, and our favorite, the Precision Cooker Nano, is back on sale for $99. That's 34 percent off and one of the best prices we've seen it, making it a good time to grab the entry-level device.
You'll need a couple of things to give sous vide a try, but the one that you probably don't already have at home is a machine like the Nano. This method of cooking involves putting food in a sealable bag and then cooking it in a water bath. Devices like the Nano constantly circulate that water while keeping it at a precise temperature so your food comes out perfectly done, not over- or undercooked.
Anova's Precision Cooker Nano earned a spot on our list of favorite kitchen gadgets because it combines affordability and precision in a compact device. Normally priced at $149, the Nano comes in at only 1.7 pounds and its small enough to fit in your kitchen's utensil drawer. It uses 750 watts of power to heat water for up to 3,000 hours before you'll need to recharge it, so you'll be able to conduct a number of sous vide tests before it needs more juice.
The Nano has onboard controls that you can use to adjust temperature and timing, or you can connect it via Bluetooth to your phone and do so via its companion mobile app. Unlike more expensive Anova machines, the Nano doesn't connect via WiFi, and it also has a fixed clamp that attaches to your cooking pot, rather than an adjustable one. Aside from those features, the biggest differences between the Nano and Anova's standard Precision Cooker lie in wattage and size. But we think the Nano is a great option for all home cooks, and sous vide newbies will find it especially easy to use.
Google is making it easier for new Android users to transfer their data from an old iPhone. As of today, the company’s Switch to Android app on iOS will work with all Android 12 devices. Previously only compatible with Pixel phones, the software is useful if you're about to move from iOS to Android.
Once you have your new phone, connect it to your old Apple one. Your best bet is a Lightning to USB-C cable, but you can also link the two devices together over WiFi. Once they’re connected, select what data you want to be moved over. Your options include apps, contacts, photos, videos, music and messages. At that point, the software will take care of the rest.
The timing of the wider availability of Switch to Android is interesting in part because WhatsApp recently made it easier for new iOS users to move their chat histories over from an old Android phone. Obviously, Google's app won't help if you switched to Android before today's announcement, but if the headache of transferring your data is what held you back previously, now you have one less reason to wait.
Luxury automakers can’t phone in an EV. Especially now as the electric vehicle market matures, it’s no longer a case that a car is a “good EV” but instead a “good car that happens to be an EV.” Cadillac seems to have gotten the message as it drops the Lyriq into an increasingly crowded luxury electric SUV field and may have delivered one of its best vehicles ever.
The 2023 Lyriq is the first electric vehicle from the automaker based on GM’s Ultium battery platform. Upon that, Cadillac built a luxury EV that has the fit and finish you’d expect from the automaker combined with a polished ride and almost eerily quiet interior. Toss in over 300 miles of a range and a starting price of around $60,000 and Cadillac is ready to take on the current crop of EVs. Watch the video below for the full story.
