Google has revealed a new feature for Pixel devices that's designed to keep your data safe when it's at the repair shop. The company says that, by activating this feature, you may be able to prevent technicians from deleting and restoring your data during the repair process while making it easier for them to run diagnostics. It can also protect your data from potentially prying eyes, Google notes.

The mode is available on Pixel devices that are running the latest Android 14 update and that have at least 2GB of spare storage. To activate the feature, go to Settings > System > Repair mode and follow the prompts (follow the same chain to turn off the feature). Google notes that even though repair mode should protect your data, it's always worth backing up your data if possible before any repair service.

Meanwhile, Google has rolled out a new diagnostic app that you can access from your Pixel device's Phone app. It says this should help you get a better sense of any issues your device has before a repair and to check that it's working properly once you get your phone back. To run the diagnostics, enter #*#7287#*# in the keypad in the Phone app.

Along with helping provide any professional repair shop with the parts it needs to fix Pixel devices, Google is looking to make it easier for people to remedy issues with their phones as well. The company started offering legitimate Pixel parts and repair manuals with the help of iFixit last year (and also now through Shyft Global Services). You should be able to find information about how to order the parts you're looking for and view repair manuals through the Google Help site. Repair manuals are available from Google directly in English and French for certain devices. Manuals for more devices and in more languages will be available in the coming months.

The holidays are right around the corner and you might be a little more behind on your shopping than you’d like to admit. We don’t blame you — between family gatherings and the final work rush before PTO kicks in, it’s hard to find the time to go to a store to pick out presents. And once you get there, you could find half-empty shelves and very few choices. But that’s why we have the internet: you still have time to buy holiday gifts online.

USPS, UPS and FedEx have laid out their holiday shipping deadlines for 2023: Ship your items via USPS by December 16 to have them safely arrive before Christmas, while FedEx and UPS have deadlines of December 15 and December 18, respectively, for standard shipping. At this stage in the game, we recommend picking up small, affordable gifts that will ship quickly so you have plenty of time to wrap them up nicely and make it look like you had everything well-planned from the start. Here are the best last-minute Christmas gifts you can get right now and still have in time before the holidays.

Amazon Echo Dot with Clock

Freelancers

Anker 511 portable charger

JLab Go Air Pop

TP-Link Kasa smart lights

PopSocket Phone Wallet

Amazon Smart Plug

UE Wonderboom 3

Stanley IceFlow Tumbler

Anker magnetic power bank (10,000 mAh)

Apple AirTag

Tile Mate

Blink Mini Pan-Tilt Camera

8Bitdo Pro 2

Audible Premium Plus

Believe it or not, scientists have been using virtual reality setups to study brain activity in lab mice for years. In the past, this has been done by surrounding the mice with flat displays — a tactic that has obvious limitations for simulating a realistic environment. Now, in an attempt to create a more immersive experience, a team at Northwestern University actually developed tiny VR goggles that fit over a mouse’s face… and most of its body. This has allowed them to simulate overhead threats for the first time, and map the mice’s brain activity all the while.

The system, dubbed Miniature Rodent Stereo Illumination VR (or iMRSIV), isn’t strapped onto the mouse’s head like a VR headset for humans. Instead, the goggles are positioned at the front of a treadmill, surrounding the mouse’s entire field of view as it runs in place. “We designed and built a custom holder for the goggles,” said John Issa, the study’s co-first author. “The whole optical display — the screens and the lenses — go all the way around the mouse.”

Dom Pinke/ Northwestern University

In their tests, the researchers say the mice appeared to take to the new VR environment more quickly than they did with the past setups. To recreate the presence of overhead threats, like birds swooping in for a meal, the team projected expanding dark spots at the tops of the displays. The way they react to threats like this “is not a learned behavior; it’s an imprinted behavior,” said co-first author Dom Pinke. “It’s wired inside the mouse’s brain.”

With this method, the researchers were able to record both the mice’s outward physical responses, like freezing in place or speeding up, and their neural activity. In the future, they may flip the scenario and let the mice act as predators, to see what goes on as they hunt insects. A paper on the technique was published in the journal Neuron on Friday. 

If you've been thinking of grabbing or gifting a new Echo device for the holidays, here's a quick PSA: A number of Amazon's smart speakers and displays are currently on sale for the lowest prices we've tracked, and many of them can be bundled with a Sengled smart light bulb for no extra cost. An Echo Show 5 bundle is down to $40, for instance, while one for the Echo Dot is available for $23. Beyond that, the latest Echo Show 8 is available for a low of $105, albeit without any extras. A bundle with the full-size Echo is also $40 off at $60, though that's a few bucks higher than its all-time low. Most of these deals have been lingering since around Black Friday, but each still represents a good chance to save. 

We recommend the Echo and Echo Dot in our guide to the best smart speakers, while the 8-inch Echo Show 8 and 5.5-inch Echo Show 5 are picks in our guide to the best smart displays. If you can afford the higher-end model of each pairing, they should be worth it: The Echo sounds decidedly fuller than the Echo Dot, while the Echo Show 8 has a better display, richer speakers and a much sharper camera than the Echo Show 5. But the Dot still performs well for its size and remains a good value for those looking to see if they'd get any use out of an Alexa speaker in the first place, while the Echo Show 5 can be useful on a bedside table as a sort of smart alarm clock. 

Amazon's Alexa assistant still has plenty of deficiencies — and all Alexa-based devices carry inherent security and privacy concerns — but for simpler requests and controlling other compatible smart home gear hands-free, each of these devices generally work well. The Sengled bulb, meanwhile, is a fairly simple color model that's compatible with the new Matter standard and normally costs around $20 on its own.

If you want the absolute cheapest Echo speaker, the Echo Pop is also on sale for $17 with the same smart bulb, but most people should get the superior-sounding Echo Dot when it's only a few dollars higher. The Echo Dot with Clock, which includes an LED display for showing the time and other basic info, is worth a longer look at $40, though that's $10 more than the lowest price we've tracked. On the smart display side, the Echo Show 10 is $80 off and down to $170, but we found that auto-rotating display to offer little extra value over the Echo Show 8 in our review.

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

Following X's alleged ad controversy involving antisemitic content, it is now Meta's turn to be put under the spotlight for its content algorithm. According to an experiment conducted by The Wall Street Journal, Instagram’s Reels video service would serve "risqué footage of children as well as overtly sexual adult videos" to test accounts that exclusively followed teen and preteen influencers — namely young gymnasts and cheerleaders. These sort of ads were supposed to be forbidden on Meta's platforms.

To make matters worse, such salacious content was also mixed in with ads representing notable US brands like Disney, Walmart, Pizza Hut, Bumble, Match Group and even The Wall Street Journal itself. The report added that the Canadian Centre for Child Protection achieved similar results with its own tests separately.

While Walmart and Pizza Hut apparently declined to comment, Bumble, Match Group, Hims (retailer of erectile-dysfunction drugs) and Disney have since either pulled their ads from Meta or pressed the firm to address this issue. Given the earlier controversy on X, advertisers are obviously even more sensitive about the type of content shown next to their ads — especially for Disney which was affected by both X and now Instagram. 

In response, Meta told its clients that it was investigating, and that it "would pay for brand-safety auditing services to determine how often a company’s ads appear beside content it considers unacceptable." However, the firm stopped short at providing a timetable nor detail on future prevention.

While one could say that such tests don't necessarily represent real user experience (as tech companies tend to argue with), Instagram's tendency to aggregate child sexualization content was a known problem internally — even before the launch of Reels, according to current and former Meta employees interviewed by the WSJ.

The same group of people suggested that an effective solution would require revamping the algorithms responsible for pushing related content to users. That said, internal documents seen by the WSJ suggested that Meta made it difficult for its safety team to apply such drastic changes, as traffic performance is apparently more important for the social media giant.

With Cyber Monday deals have come big savings on all things Amazon. If you’ve been looking to get a new Echo speaker for your home office or pick up a Kindle as a holiday gift, now’s a great time to shop for all of Amazon’s gadgets and gear. For 2023, we’re seeing a new low on the Kindle Scribe, the refreshed Echo Show 5 and the new Fire TV Stick 4K Max, among other deals. Here are the best early Cyber Monday deals you can get on Kindles, Echo speakers, Fire TV devices and more.

Amazon Kindle Cyber Monday deals

Kindle Scribe

A number of Amazon’s Kindles are on sale for Cyber Monday, 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 we've seen. 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 for $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 Cyber Monday 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 voice assistant 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 would be with a larger Echo speaker.

Echo Pop with 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

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 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 5 with Ring Video Doorbell

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.

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 Buds

Another entry in our affordable earbuds guide are the Echo Buds made by Amazon. They’re down to $35, which matches their all-time low. If you don’t like the style of buds that go into your ear canal, and would prefer the type that rest on the concha (the bowl next to the canal) these are a worthy compromise to Apple’s more expensive AirPods.

Amazon Cyber Monday 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 Cyber Monday 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.

Amazon Cyber Monday deals on Ring and Blink cameras

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.

Echo Show 5 with Blink Mini

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 Cyber Monday, 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.

Amazon Cyber Monday deals on Eero routers

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

The following discusses spoilers for “The Star Beast” and references transphobia.

If there’s one thing the rebooted Doctor Who always tried to do, it was avoid cliches about its predecessor’s small budget. The 1963 - 1989 run was made on a shoestring, leading to lazy gags about wobbly sets and bad visual effects. The 2005 revival was well-budgeted compared to its British TV peers, but still had to work hard to not "embarrass" itself. Now, the show is back, armed with bags of cash from Disney in exchange for its international broadcast rights. And, for the first time in possibly forever Doctor Who can boast about how rich it is.

But, much as we fans may feel inferior when comparing their love to those glossy Treks and Wars, money isn’t everything. For all those wobbly sets and dodgy effects, Doctor Who is a writer’s and actor’s medium first; great writing and acting can go a long way. It can make you believe an alien parasite consuming a person inside out is real, and not just green bubble wrap. It’s also the reason Doctor Who never succeeds when its creative team tries to ram it into the same cult-sci-fi-TV pigeonhole as its supposed American counterparts. This show thrives on taking left turns and playing on the fringes of the epic rather than aping the SyFy-industrial complex.

So what happens when Russell T. Davies returns to re-reboot the show with a big pile of Disney dollars? He writes a kitchen sink drama about a struggling family that’s thrust into the middle of an alien conflict. He writes a script that hinges not on an extended battle sequence with plenty of practical effects, or a lavish CGI moment of London being torn apart. But one where the big blockbuster moment is when Catherine Tate is locked in a tiny room across from David Tennant. This is the story of a mother who loves her daughter so much that she opts to sacrifice herself without a second thought. The Star Beast says, both in its production and dialogue, that there are better things to have than money, including love. And money was never the thing that made Doctor Who good.

The Star Beast has a difficult job, serving as a 60th anniversary special and as a jumping-on point for new viewers. Doctor Who is already a global hit, but its arrival on Disney+ means it’ll no longer be something people need to seek out in order to find. But beyond a short prologue where the Doctor explains why Donna can’t get her memories back, or else she’ll die, you’re dropped in cold. Keep up. The episode is an adaptation of the ‘70s comic of the same name, where the alien Beep the Meep lands on Earth, pursued by the Wrarth Warriors.

The Doctor (David Tennant), with his new / old face and a new sonic, arrives in Camden in time to bump into Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) and her daughter, Rose (Yasmin Finney). He’s anxious to get out of their way since, if Donna remembers him or their time together, she will die. (In the resolution to 2008’s Journey’s End, Donna absorbed a bunch of the Doctor’s regeneration energy, becoming a human-Time Lord hybrid. But in doing so, nearly burned out her own brain until the Doctor wiped her memory in order to save her life.) But while she’s packing a box of shopping, a falling spaceship streaks across the sky, crashing into a nearby steel works. The Doctor hijacks a taxi driven by Shaun (Karl Collins), Donna’s husband, and asks him to drive to the steel works while finding out what Donna has been up to in the last 15 years.

Last time we saw Donna, the Doctor handed her a winning lottery ticket as a gift to celebrate her marriage to Shaun. But beyond paying for the house they live in, she gave the rest of her £160 million windfall to good causes, leaving them on the poverty line. Rose, her daughter, has set up a sewing business selling handmade toys to rich people in Dubai, to help earn some extra money. And as they walk home Rose, who is trans, is deadnamed by a bunch of kids from her school, much to Donna’s ire.

The Doctor investigates the crashed spaceship, avoiding the UNIT soldiers who are swarming the plant. But he is spotted by Shirley Ann Bingham (Ruth Madeley), UNIT’s new scientific advisor – the 56th – the latest in a long line of advisors to follow the Doctor. Rose, meanwhile, encounters Beep the Meep (Miriam Margolyes), a cuddly alien who is on the run from some giant green bug-eyed monsters with laser gun hands. Her compassion sees her hide Beep in her sewing room in the garden shed, which is eventually discovered by Donna. And then the Doctor turns up, followed soon after by a squad of UNIT soldiers who have been hypnotized by some glowing form in the spaceship.

A pitched and lengthy battle ensues where the Doctor fashions an escape by breaking through the walls between houses to get around the warring factions. It’s here, in a set piece that drags out far too long, that you can feel the show reveling in its supersized budget. Doctor Who of old could have probably staged something like this in its late-noughties heyday but not without a lot of cutting elsewhere. But we’re allowed a moment or two of self-indulgence when you get so much money you can flip a Land Rover onto a parked car and have them both explode in flames, right?

After escaping, the Doctor pulls out a judge’s wig from inside his coat and beams in two Wrarth Warriors. He’s not so sure that the cute and cuddly Beep is as innocent as it initially claimed – as fans of the comic will already know – instead being a genocidal maniac. It was Beep that possessed the squad of UNIT soldiers, and plans to wreak more havoc on the universe as soon as their ship is repaired. Meep kills the two Wrarth Warriors and is about to do the same to everyone else but the Doctor convinces them to take them hostage instead. Marched back to the steelworks, where they’re saved by Shirley who has a set of hidden guns and a rocket launcher hidden inside her wheelchair. Beep’s spaceship is ready to go, whereby its Dagger Drive engine will burrow into London and burn the city, and its nine million or so inhabitants, to fuel its takeoff.

The Star Beast reminded me of a lengthy email, written by Russell T. Davies, in the tail end of Doctor Who: The Writer’s Tale. Towards the end of his first tenure running the show, Davies wrote to Benjamin Cook discussing his process. But the email also had the tone of someone addressing the criticisms that had perhaps dogged much of his initial tenure on the series. I’m paraphrasing, but his point was that structure was far less important to him than emotional catharsis. A Davies story is often messy and disorganized, much like life, in contrast to the Swiss Watch formalism of his successor, Steven Moffat. It should come as no surprise that The Star Beast doesn’t quite gel on the structural level, and is instead a series of big, emotionally cathartic set pieces.

But Davies’ instincts are right, and while many shows would build to a wide-frame and glossy climax, Davies shrinks it down. Catherine Tate leaps onto the spaceship to help the Doctor, willingly risking her life to save her daughter and the rest of London. Here, when it’s just David Tennant and Catherine Tate in a small, round room, separated by a glass partition, that things get intense. The whole episode, in fact, hinges on Tate’s acting as she makes the decision to die to save her family, a bigger and better moment than a thousand flipped Land Rovers.

And to fix things, the Doctor has to unlock those memories, sealed away inside Donna’s brain, of when her mind had merged with the Doctor. With it, she is able to help destroy the ship’s launch mechanism in a big moment of heroism before dying in the Doctor’s arms. But, when rescue arrives, she’s not actually dead, and it’s all thanks to Rose, who was helping outside all along. The hidden memories, and the Doctor’s power, were passed down to Rose in the womb who diluted their intensity enough not to overwhelm and kill Donna. It’s a seemingly sweet way to resolve the story, but I’m not sure if the implication the show makes is the one Davies intends. But I’m going to leave the nature of the episode’s resolution, and how it relates to Rose’s gender in the hands of infinitely better-qualified writers.

The episode ends with the Doctor and Donna cruelly preventing Rose from taking a look at the new TARDIS. Which, much like the rest of the episode, is a big money moment, with what feels like the biggest console room set ever. Again, there are probably too many beauty passes over the architecture as the show reminds everyone what it can do with some extra cash. Sadly, the coffee machine gets just one run out before Donna spills a cup all over the console and the TARDIS is engulfed in flame. Man, it feels good to be excited about the next episode of Doctor Who, and that’s a feeling I haven’t felt since March 1st, 2020.

Turns out there are lots of tech devices you can buy for under $50 — and Black Friday means some items above that threshold have now dropped comfortably within reach. These accessories and gadgets make great stocking stuffers too. We've tested plenty of these small and useful devices and found a slew of them seeing sizable discounts with sales at Amazon, Target and Best Buy. Cables, portable chargers, controllers, smart home displays and more are all on sale. Here are the best Black Friday tech deals under $50. 

Amazon Echo Dot with a Kasa Smart Bulb

Xbox Wireless Controller

Biolite PD 40 power bank

Moft Sit-Stand Desk

Google Nest Hub 

Roku Streaming Stick 4K

Tile Mate

Echo Dot

Echo Dot Kids

Echo Show 5 (3rd Gen, 2023)

Anker Nano power bank (USB-C)

Blink Mini

Amazon Smart Plug

Kasa Smart Plug

Otterbox Fast Charge

Tribit Stormbox Micro 2

JBL Clip 4 Eco

Anker Soundcore 2

Newvanga travel power adapter

HyperX Cloud Stinger 2

EarFun Free 2 wireless earbuds

Amazon Echo Buds

Thermacell E55 Mosquito Repeller

Google Chromecast with Google TV (4K)

Logitech Signature M650 mouse

Kasa Smart Light Bulbs

Sengled WiFi Color Changing Bulb

Anker Bio-Braided USB-C to C cable

Anker 100W 10ft USB-C cable

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.

At this point in time, you probably have a ton of passwords to keep track of across a vast number of websites, apps and services. One way to keep them safe and organized, and to prevent losing access to your accounts, is to use a password manager. For Black Friday this year, 1Password is giving you the chance to purchase an individual or a family subscription for 50 percent off their normal prices, as long as you're a new subscriber. The manager's individual account normally costs $35.88 a year, while its family account is typically priced at $59.88, so expect to pay half those amounts, respectively. 

Both subscription tiers come with access to the service's mobile and desktop passwords, as well as its browser extensions. You can save not just log in credentials with 1Password, but also addresses and credit card details, and you can hide select vaults when you switch on Travel mode. 1Password will allow you to temporarily share logins with anybody, as well, even if they're not a user. But if you purchase a family subscription, you can share the account between five people who can create an unlimited number of shared vaults. Each member can also help another recover their access in case they get locked out.

It's worth noting that 1Password recently went beyond well, passwords, and rolled out support for passkeys to desktop and mobile users. That means you'll be able to sync your passkeys across devices and across platforms, so you can log in to your accounts without having to resort to using your credentials. This special Black Friday discount will be available from November 24 to November 27 only. 

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 days between Black Friday and Cyber Monday don’t have fancy shopping names associated with them, but it’s still a good time to shop for deals on Amazon devices, as most sale prices are still going strong. Amazon has sales on its own Kindles, Echos, Fire tablets and so on throughout the year, but the company tends to reserve the best prices for three events: Prime Day sales in July and October, and the post-Thanksgiving shopping holiday.

We’re seeing a new low on the Kindle Scribe, a bundle with a half price Echo Dot and a free smart bulb, and the new Fire TV Stick 4K Max at its lowest price yet. Here are the best discounts on Amazon devices that you can shop for this weekend.

Amazon Kindle Black Friday deals

Kindle Scribe

A number of Amazon’s Kindles 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 we've seen. 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 for $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

Amazon Echo Dot with a Kasa Smart Bulb

You can get the Echo Dot by itself for $23 right now, plus Amazon is throwing in a free TP-Link color smart bulb. The bundle would go for $73 at full price. These make a perfect smart home starter kid, as asking Alexa to turn on a light is one of the convenient perks of having the assistant in your home. The Echo Dot is one of our favorite smart speakers and TP-Link Kasa makes our favorite smart bulbs (the one in the bundle is a slightly brighter version of our pick). 

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 voice assistant 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 would be with a larger Echo speaker.

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 with 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 with 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.

Echo Buds

Another entry in our affordable earbuds guide are the Echo Buds made by Amazon. They’re down to $35, which matches their all-time low. If you don’t like the style of buds that go into your ear canal, and would prefer the type that rest on the concha (the bowl next to the canal) these are a worthy compromise to Apple’s more expensive AirPods.

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.

Echo Show 5 with Blink Mini

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.