If you've been eyeing those Instant Pots or Instant air fryers that everyone seems to have, they're on sale as part of Amazon's Prime Early Access Day with savings up to 50 percent. Some of the key products include the Instant Vortex 5.7-quart air fryer oven combo ($70 or 50 percent off), the Instant pot Duo Plus ($90 or 40 percent off) and the Instant Pot Crisp 11-in-1 Air Fryer ($170 or 37 percent off).
While Instant Pot Vortex is an air fryer, it also has one-touch controls for baking, roasting and reheating. It allows supports customized programs for specific types of food, so you can cook wings, potatoes or even cinnamon buns with a single touch. Grab the 5.7-quart model for just $70, or half off the regular price.
Instant Pot's 8-quart 9-in-1 Duo Plus model is also on sale, if what you need is the brand's classic pressure cooker. It has dropped to $90, or $76 off the retail retail price. The Duo Plus has nine functions in one device and could act as a rice cooker, slow cooker, yogurt maker, steamer, sauté pan, food warmer, sous vide and sterilizer, in addition to being a pressure cooker. It has 15 customizable programs to make cooking ribs, cake, soup and other types of food a lot easier as well.
Other notable items include the Instant Pot Crisp 11-in-1 Air Fryer ($170), that offers both Air Fryer and pressure cooker options. In addition, grab the Instant Vortex Pro Air Fryer that also offers rotisserie and convection oven functions for $110 (35 percent off) and the Instant Accu Slim Sous Vide that acts as a precision cooker and immersion circulator at $70 (30 percent off).
With the holiday season right around the corner, you probably have someone on your gift list who could use a new pair of headphones or earbuds. You can pick up their gifts for less right now thanks to Amazon Prime Day Early Access, which has discounted a number of our favorite audio gadgets from the likes of Sony, Bose, Jabra, Sennheiser and others. In addition to wireless headphones and earbuds, there are also speakers, soundbars and other music makers on sale for the two-day shopping event. Here are the best deals on audio devices we could find for the Prime Day Early Access Sale.
AirPods Pro (2nd gen)
Billy Steele/Engadget
Apple's second-generation AirPods Pro at $15 off and down to $235 for this October Prime Day. That's the best price we've seen since launch, and we gave them a score of 88 for their improved sound, excellent Transparency Mode and solid ANC.
Google's Pixel Buds Pro are down to a new record low of $152 right now. We consider them to be the company's best earbuds yet, giving them a score of 87 for their deep, punchy bass, solid ANC and reliable touch controls.
Our current favorite budget headphones, Audio Technica's ATH-M20BT, are on sale for only $59 right now. While they don't have ANC, they're quite comfortable, plus they have multi-device support and a 60-hour battery life.
Bose's QuietComfort 45 headphones have dropped to $229, or 30 percent off their normal price. We gave them a score of 86 for their clear, balanced audio, improved ANC and long battery life.
The Beats Fit Pro are 20 percent off and down to $160. We gave them a score of 87 for their comfortable, water-resistant design, good sound quality and ANC and long battery life.
The Beats Studio Buds are on sale for $100 right now, or $50 off their usual rate. We gave them a score of 84 for their balanced sound, hands-free Siri controls and quick pairing with both iOS and Android.
The original AirPods are down to $90. While they're a bit outdated at this point, these are still decent earbuds that we liked for their improved wireless performance and good battery life.
The sleek Bose 700 headphones are on sale for $269 right now. We gave these cans a score of 90 for their remarkable noise cancellation, improved, more comfortable design and easy to use touch controls.
Sony's LinkBuds and Linkbuds S are down to $128 right now. We gave the LinkBuds a score of 81 for their unique design, reliable controls and automatic speak-to-pause feature.
Samsung's original Galaxy Buds Pro are on sale for $120. They earned a score of 85 from us for their comfortable fit, wireless charging and good sound quality.
Jabra's excellent Elite 3 earbuds have dropped to $50, or $30 off their normal rate. These already affordable buds earned a score of 88 from us for their impressive sound quality, good battery life, reliable touch controls and comfortable fit.
Sony's WF-1000XM4 earbuds are down to $248 right now. We gave them a score of 86 for their excellent sound quality, good ANC, wireless charging capabilities and improved battery life.
Google's Pixel Buds A-Series are on sale for $69, or 30 percent less than usual. In addition to their solid sound quality, these buds earned a score of 84 from us for their small, comfortable design and deep Google Assistant integration.
Samsung's Galaxy Buds 2 have dropped to $100. These much-improved earbuds impressed us with their better audio quality, adjustable ambient sound mode and tiny, comfortable design.
Sennheiser's Momentum True Wireless 2 earbuds are on sale for $130, and if you clip the on-page coupon, you can get an additional $30 off, bringing them down to $100. These buds impressed us with their remarkable audio quality, and we gave them a score of 85 in part for that as well as their solid ANC and comprehensive companion app.
Jabra's Elite 85t earbuds are on sale for $162, or a whopping 60 percent off their normal price. We like these true wireless earbuds for their strong ANC, comfortable size and wireless charging case.
Amazon's Echo smart speaker is on sale for $60, or $40 off its usual price. We gave it a score of 89 for its solid audio quality, attractive design and its inclusion of a 3.5mm audio jack.
JBL's Charge 5 is on sale for $149, which is only $10 more than its record-low price. It earned a spot on our list of favorite portable Bluetooth speakers thanks to its big sound, long battery life and USB-C port for charging your other devices.
Sony's compact SRS-XB13 Bluetooth speaker is down to just $38, which is 37 percent off its regular price. Not only does it come in a bunch of fun colors, but this tiny speaker also has a waterproof IP67 rated design, punchy bass and a 16-hour battery life.
Roku appears to be expanding into the smart home space with a smart bulbs, light strips and security cameras, according to a Reddit user and report from Zatz Not Funny. The products appear to white-labeled Wyze products, and it looks like Roku is working on a Smart Home channel and dedicated mobile app.
The images, apparently taken from Walmart's website, show Roku white and colored smart bulbs, a Roku lightstrip, Roku smart plug, Roku indoor and outdoor security cams, and a Roku panning cam. They look exactly the same as Wyze's Cam v3, Cam Pan V2, Bulb Color and other products.
Nathaniel/Reddit
With the TV and smartphone apps, Roku could let users show and control camera feeds, bulbs, smart plugs etc. There's no sign of pricing, but Wyze products like the $34 Cam Pan V2 and $23 Wyze Bulb Color are relatively inexpensive compared to Nest or Philips, for example. However, Wyze was recently criticized for not addressing known camera security flaws in a timely manner, and suffered a December 2019 data breach that exposed the data of 2.4 million customers.
When Mark Zuckerberg announced the company he founded would change its name from Facebook to Meta, he added it would be “metaverse-first, not Facebook-first.” He’s shown off dystopian VR offices, looked at space in VR with Neil deGrasse Tyson and talked up the metaverse on Joe Rogan’s podcast. (During that appearance, Zuckerberg said he’s started MMA, doing some critical damage to the sport on the way.)
This year’s Connect kicks off at 10 AM PT today, with a keynote from Zuckerberg, and Engadget’s Karissa Bell has outlined a lot of the questions we still need answering. Will the metaverse ever look cool? How will it handle harassment and misinformation? And can Zuckerberg explain what the metaverse even is, one more time, for those of us at the back of the class?
If you still don’t own an Echo speaker or a Kindle yet…
Amazon Prime Day is, unsurprisingly, the best time to pick up a gadget made by Amazon. We saw record-low prices during July’s Prime Day and a lot of those prices have returned this fall. Discounts cover not only the usual Kindle tablets and Fire TV gadgets but also Eero routers and Blink security cameras.
Including the MagSafe accessories worth your money.
So you’ve upgraded to an iPhone 14, now what? Now you need to upgrade your phone charger from that dinky charging brick you got with your iPhone 6. Seriously, it may well change your smartphone life. We’ve got several other recommendations for charging cables, cases and more.
Gaming laptops have become some of the most intriguing PCs around. They’ve gotten thinner and lighter, naturally — but they’ve also become vastly more powerful and efficient, making them suitable for both work and play. They’ve adopted some bold innovations, like rotating hinges and near desktop-like customizability. Gaming laptops are where PC makers can get adventurous. If you’re a professional in the market for a beefy new computer, and you like to play a few rounds of Apex Legends on occasion, it may make more sense to go for a gaming notebook instead of a MacBook Pro-like workstation. We pick out the best options from the likes of ASUS ROG, Razer, Dell and more. It doesn’t have to cost several thousand dollars either. Our budget pick is $800.
A court in the Netherlands has ruled that a US company violated a Dutch worker's human rights by forcing him to keep his webcam on during work hours. Hired by a telemarketing firm Chetu, the employee was terminated for refusing to be monitored "for nine hours per day" by a program that streamed his webcam and shared his screens.
"Tracking via camera for eight hours per day is disproportionate and not permitted in the Netherlands," the court verdict states, adding it also violated Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The court found Chetu dismissed the employee unfairly and must pay a $50,000 fine, along with the worker's back wages, court costs and unused vacation days.
Last week, LG announced it would allow third-party TV manufacturers to use its webOS platform, and now its main rival is following suit. Samsung has revealed it will license its Tizen OS TV platform for use in non-Samsung TV models for the first time, partnering with Akai, RCA and a bunch of other brands you… probably haven’t heard of. Those manufacturers will get access to features like Samsung TV Plus (a free streaming platform), personalized recommendations and even Samsung's Bixby.
Amazon is kicking off this year's holiday shopping season with its Prime Early Access Sale. This Prime Day "part two" of sorts is the second members-only sale event of the year that Amazon has had in 2022, and Prime subscribers will find thousands of items on sale at record-low prices. This is your opportunity to not only stock up on household essentials while they're discounted, but it's also a chance to pick up some holiday gifts for less. If you have tech like headphones, earbuds, laptops, streaming devices, gaming accessories or other electronics on your list, you'll find a bunch of them on sale during this event. We've collected the best tech deals for October Prime Day here so you don't have to go searching for them.
Sony WH-1000XM5
Billy Steele/Engadget
Sony's WH-1000XM5 have dropped to $348. We gave the headphones a score of 95 for their great sound, supreme comfort and 30-hour battery life.
Apple's second-generation AirPods Pro at $15 off and down to $235 for this October Prime Day. That's the best price we've seen since launch, and we gave them a score of 88 for their improved sound, excellent Transparency Mode and solid ANC.
The latest Apple TV 4K has dropped to $109. While on the expensive side, it's a set-top box that Apple lovers will appreciate. We gave it a score of 90 for its speedy performance, Dolby Vision and Atmos support and much improved Siri remote.
Amazon knocked $120 of Google's Pixel 6a for this event, bringing it down to a record low of $329. We gave the budget-friendly smartphone a score of 89 for its attractive design, great cameras and long battery life.
The 10.2-inch iPad is down to $269. We gave it a score of 86 for its improved performance, excellent battery life, better front-facing camera and increased base storage.
The Galaxy Z Fold 4 is $410 off and down to $1,390. We gave the flagship foldable a score of 86 for its brighter main screen, sleeker hinge, updated cameras and much better battery life.
Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip 4 is $200 off and down to $800. We gave it a score of 86 for its improved battery life, added hands-free applications and attractive design.
Google's Pixel Buds Pro are down to a new record low of $160 right now. We consider them to be the company's best earbuds yet, giving them a score of 87 for their deep, punchy bass, solid ANC and reliable touch controls.
Our current favorite budget headphones, Audio Technica's ATH-M20xBT, are on sale for only $59 right now. While they don't have ANC, they're quite comfortable, plus they have multi-device support and a 60-hour battery life.
The Echo Show 5 is on sale for $35, or a whopping 59 percent off its usual price. If you want a smart alarm clock, this is the smart display to get. We like its sharp 5-inch display, ambient light sensor, smart home controls and tap-to-snooze feature.
The higher-end Fire TV Stick 4K Max has dropped to $35, which is $20 less than usual and a record low. On top of all of the features in the standard Fire TV Stick 4K, the Max version also supports WiFi 6 and live picture-in-picture viewing.
The Kindle Paperwhite is on sale for $100, which is close to its record-low price. The updated model has 17 front lights, a sleeker design, an adjustable warm light, weeks of battery life and Audible support.
The Beats Fit Pro are 20 percent off and down to $160 for this sale. We gave them a score of 87 for their comfortable, water-resistant design, good sound quality and ANC and long battery life.
Bose's QuietComfort 45 headphones have dropped to $229, or $100 off their normal price. We gave them a score of 86 for their clear, balanced audio, improved ANC and long battery life.
Jabra's excellent Elite 3 earbuds have dropped to $50, or $30 off their normal rate. These already affordable buds earned a score of 88 from us for their impressive sound quality, good battery life, reliable touch controls and comfortable fit.
The Google Nest Thermostat is back on sale for $100 right now, which is one of the lowest prices we've seen. It's an Energy Star-certified device that intelligently monitors the temperature in your home and suggests ways you can save money on energy usage. You can also control it from your phone, changing your home's environment from anywhere at any time.
LG's 48-inch A1 OLED smart TV is cheaper than ever at $645 for this sale. This is one of the company's more affordable OLED sets and it runs on LG's a7 Gen 4 AI Processor 4K and supports Dolby Vision, HDR10, Game Optimizer and voice controls with Alexa and the Google Assistant.
August's 4th-gen WiFi smart lock is down to $184 for this sale. We gave it a score of 80 when it first came out thanks to its minimalist design, easy installation and mandatory two-factor authentication setup.
Samsung's 32-inch Smart Monitor M8 is cheaper than ever at $500 right now. It plays double duty as a monitor into which you can plug in your laptop and a smart TV with a built-in interface that gives you access to Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and other streaming services. It also has a built-in smart home hub for connecting things like smart lights, switches and more.
The original Peloton Bike is more than $200 off and down to $1,225 for Prime Day. It's a compact exercise bike with a built-in screen that lets you take a variety of cycling, strength, yoga and other classes with Peloton's digital membership. Also, one of the company's latest gadgets, the Peloton Guide, is on sale for $250, too.
You can get two Blink Mini wired security cameras for only $30 for this October Prime Day. This camera needs to be plugged in, but we like its compact design, 1080p recording, motion alerts and two-way audio.
Anker is selling quite a robust selection of products at a discount for Amazon's Prime Early Access Sale, and some of the deals even represent new all-time lows for the items. If you need to make sure your devices don't ever run out of battery, the Anker 737 Power Bank is currently on sale for $100, or $50 less than its retail price. The model has a 24,000mAh battery capacity and has two USB-C, as well as one USB-A, charging ports. Anker says it carries enough juice to charge an iPhone 13 for almost five times, though that number would probably be lower if you have an iPhone 14.
Need a portable wireless battery for your iPhone instead? The black variant of the Anker 633 Magnetic Battery (MagGo) is currently on sale for $55. That's $25 off and the lowest we've seen for the wireless charger on the website. The device has a small kickstand attachment, and since it sticks to your iPhone while charging, it also doubles as a phone stand. This one's a bit smaller than the 737 Power Bank and has a 10,000mAh battery capacity with a 20W USB-C power delivery port for fast charging times. The white and blue versions are also on sale, but they cost a bit more at $64.
If you're traveling or just simply need a power strip with an abundance of ports and outlets, you can get Anker's 727 Charging Station for $66.50, or 30 percent off its usual price. That's the lowest we've seen for the power strip, which has a maximum output of 100W. The 727 Charging Station has two USB-C ports, two USB-A ports and two AC outlets, and it comes with a five-foot detachable cord.
In case you need cords to be able to connect your iPhones and iPads to a USB-C charger, you can also grab a bunch from the sale. A 3-pack bundle of Anker's Powerline II USB-C-to-Lightning Cable will set you back $22, or $17 lower than usual. The cables come in different lengths — three feet, six feet and 10 feet — and had been tested to withstand up to 12,000 bends.
There are a lot more Anker items on sale at the moment, but they are exclusive to Prime members. If you're a new user or haven't been a Prime subscriber over the past 12 months, though, you can sign up for a 30-day free trial.
There are Prime Day deals flying around for just about everything under the sun (well, as long as it's on Amazon). If you're on the lookout for a solid deal on budget-friendly headphones in particular, consider Audio-Technica's ATH-M20xBT. Sure, the name might not easily roll off the tongue, but they were already solid value before they dropped to an all-time-low price for Prime Day. You can now pick up a set for $59, which is $20 off the regular price.
These are our favorite budget wireless headphones on the market right now. They have physical controls and Bluetooth multipoint connectivity, which enables you to link them to more than one device simultaneously (say, a laptop and a phone). There's also a wired connection option.
The headphones have 40mm drivers designed to bolster low frequency performance. A low-latency mode should help to make sure audio and video are synced, which could prove useful for gaming.
You'll get up to 60 hours of battery life on a single charge, so, given that they're pretty comfortable, you might end up wearing them all day. If you need to, you can top up the battery with up to three hours of listening time after just 10 minutes of charging.
On the downside, there's no active noise cancellation. You won't be able to fold these up, either. If you can live with those tradeoffs, though, it's certainly worth considering the M20xBT as a budget-conscious set of headphones for yourself or even as a stocking stuffer for someone else.
I wasn't kidding when I told you that GM is going all-in on Ultium, the battery technology behind the company's electrification efforts, not to mention an entire generation of Chevy and GMC EVs. On Tuesday, the automaker announced that it is expanding its portfolio into energy management services — think big stationary batteries to store rooftop-generated solar power on a home or business — with its new spin-off business, GM Energy.
The new venture will be comprised of three smaller ones: Ultium Home, Ultium Commercial and Ultium Charge 360, offering "solutions ranging from bi-directional charging, vehicle-to home (V2H) and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) applications, to stationary storage, solar products, software applications, cloud management tools, microgrid solutions, hydrogen fuel cells and more," according to GM's announcement on Tuesday.
The new company will be partnering with a number of established firms and utilities in the energy industry. For example, GM will be working with SunPower to develop and market a integrated home energy storage system that incorporates an electric vehicle with solar panels and battery banks to enable easy Vehicle-to-Home (V2H) power transfers. GM plans to have that home energy system ready for sale alongside the release of the EV Silverado next fall, 2023.
Additionally, GM Energy has partnered with California's Pacific Gas and Electric utility for another V2H pilot program that will let you run your household appliances off of your EV's battery during blackouts. Eventually, the company plans to add V2G (Vehicle-to-Grid) capabilities, which will allow you to sell excess energy produced by the solar panels back to your local utility.
For businesses, Ultium Commercial may help ease the transition to an electrified fleet. Many such existing GM customers, "have fleets of vehicles are looking to electrify their fleets, but aren't really aware of how to set up the charging infrastructure, how to manage their energy," Mark Bole, vice president and Head of V2X Battery Solutions at GM said during an embargoed press briefing last week. "And so, not only do we come in as a hardware and software provider, but in a sense, really, as a strategic advisor for these commercial customers."
"There are more power failures in the US than any other country in the industrialized world," Travis Hester, vice president of GM EV Growth Operations, added. "There were 25,000 blackouts in California alone last year, over 15 and a half billion dollars of lost commerce, just in California. So when you look at the numbers, there is a desire — and we're seeing it very clearly from commercial customers reaching out to us and asking us for assistance to deal with some of these problems."
GM is also transferring its public charging station network, Ultium Charge 360, over to GM Energy. Charge 360 launched in 2021 in Washington, Florida and California. GM partnered with Blink Charging, ChargePoint, EV Connect, EVgo, FLO, Greenlots and SemaConnect to streamline their collective 60,000-plug network of 350 kW Level 3 DC fast chargers and provide "more seamless access" to drivers. The automaker built upon that network this past July, announcing a 500-station "coast-to-coast" expansion in partnership with EVGo. In all, GM hopes to have 2,700 such EV fast charging stations across the US and Canada under its Ultium Charge 360 banner by 2025.
If you missed the chance to buy the Apple TV 4K when it was $70 off during Prime Day earlier this year, now is your chance to get it at that price again. For its first-ever Prime Early Access Sale, Amazon has discounted the Apple TV 4K to $109. That’s an absolute steal for one of the best streaming devices you can buy.
Engadget’s Devindra Hardawar awarded the latest Apple TV 4K a score of 90 last year. Highlights include a much improved Siri remote and a more powerful A12 Bionic chip that can output HDR video at up 60 frames per second, while also delivering improved gaming performance.
If you own a handful of other Apple devices, you’ll appreciate the Apple TV 4K’s support for AirPlay. The protocol makes sharing video, photos and music from your iPhone, iPad or Mac to Apple TV-connected television easy. With the recent addition of SharePlay, you can even use the device to participate in watch parties over FaceTime. All that to say, the Apple TV 4K shines if you’re already invested in Apple’s broader ecosystem.
Naturally, the Apple TV 4K supports all of the most popular streaming services, including Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, Hulu and Apple TV. It’s true you could buy a more affordable device like the $40 Roku Express 4K to access those same platforms. However, the Apple TV 4K offers nearly unmatched picture quality thanks to its A12 Bionic Processor.
Prime Day might offer just what you need if you're looking for a pair of Android-friendly wireless earbuds. Amazon is selling Google's Pixel Buds Pro at a new all-time low of $160, well below the usual $200 asking price. That's better than the previous best of $175, and conveniently comes as Amazon is offering a free gift card with Pixel 7 orders.
The Pixel Buds Pro are, simply speaking, Google's best earbuds to date. The active noise cancellation is the highlight, with good performance that helps you focus on tunes rather than construction or loud conversations. However, there's also much-improved bass — these may be a good fit if you regularly listen to dance music and rap. Add the seven-hour battery life and they should work well for workday listening, not to mention longer flights.
They aren't flawless. Call quality is merely acceptable, and the transparency mode doesn't offer the natural sound or volume sensitivity of the second-gen AirPods Pro. Features like volume EQ require Android, too, so this isn't necessarily the best pick if you're an iPhone user. At this price, though, the Pixel Buds Pro are a relative bargain if you want better-than-average sound but still have a tight budget.
