If you have Apple devices on your shopping list for this holiday season, you may be able to save on some of them if you pick them up during Amazon's October Prime Day. The online retailer has knocked down the prices of many Apple gadgets, including AirPods, iPads, MacBooks and more. Since Apple stuff is always in high demand, it's not a bad idea to cross these items off your list early if you can so you're not left gift-less and searching for a last-minute replacement. Here are the best deals on Apple gadgets we found for the Prime Day Early Access Sale.

AirPods Pro (2nd gen)

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.

AirPods (2nd gen)

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 While they're a bit outdated at this point, these are still decent earbuds that we liked for their improved wireless performance and good battery life.

Apple TV 4K

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.

MacBook Air M1

Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

The previous-generation MacBook Air with the M1 chipset is on sale for a new low of $799. Although the latest model is outfitted with the M2 chip, this version remains a solid, speedy laptop. We gave it a score of 94 for its impressive performance, excellent keyboard and trackpad and fanless design.

iPad

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.

Apple Watch Series 8

Cherlynn Low / Engadget

The latest Apple Watch is on sale for $349, or $50 off its normal price. That's the cheapest we've seen the Series 8 since launch, and we like that it's very much like the Series 7, but with added features like car crash support and an added skin temperature sensor.

Apple Watch SE (previous gen)

You can pick up the Apple Watch SE for only $199 right now. If you've never had a wearable before, this is the Apple Watch to get. We gave it a score of 88 for its comfortable design and responsible performance.

iPad Air M1

Apple's latest iPad Air with the M1 chipset is on sale for $519. We gave it a score of 90 for its extremely fast performance, improved front camera and excellent battery life.

iPad mini

Valentina Palladino / Engadget

Apple's latest iPad mini is $100 off and down to $399 right now. We consider it to be the best small tablet you can get, and it earned a score of 89 from us for its refined design, Center Stage cameras, solid performance and good battery life.

iPad Pros

Apple's 12.9-inch iPad Pro with the M1 chipset is cheaper than ever with a starting price of $899. This version earned a score of 87 from us for its excellent performance, gorgeous screen and new Center Stage cameras.

Get the latest Amazon Prime Day offers by following @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribing to the Engadget Deals newsletter.

One part of Google may have given up on cloud gaming, with Stadia set to be discontinued in a few months. But on the ChromeOS team, there’s a whole new initiative to try and push back on the whole “you can’t game on a Chromebook” thing. Today, Google — along with a handful of hardware and software partners — are announcing what it calls “the world’s first laptops built for cloud gaming.” 

Stripping back the hyperbole, what does this mean in practice? After all, the whole point of cloud gaming is that you don’t need superpowered hardware to enjoy high-quality games — many existing Chromebooks can run cloud gaming services just fine. That said, the new laptops announced today are quite a bit different than your average Chromebook. 

At a high level, Google says that it focused on a handful of hardware features to differentiate these laptops, including large displays with high refresh rates, keyboards with anti-ghosting tech (and RBG keyboards in some cases), WiFi 6/6E cards and generally high specs.

Three new laptops from ASUS, Acer and Lenovo

Acer

ASUS, Acer and Lenovo all announced new computers today as part of this push. First, the Acer Chromebook 516 GE features a 16-inch IPS screen with a 2,560 x 1,600 resolution and 120Hz refresh rate, along with an RBG anti-ghosting keyboard and 12th-gen Intel processors (up to a Core i7). It’s also equipped with a gigabit ethernet port, two USB-C ports, a USB-A port and HDMI. Finally, it has DTS audio via two upward-facing speakers and two more downward-facing speakers on the underside of the laptop. Acer will offer a number of configurations, but the first will be at Best Buy this month for $650 — it’ll include a Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage via its NVMe SSD.

ASUS’ offering is a little different — the Chromebook Vibe CX55 Flip has a 15.6-inch display that maxes out at 1080p, but it’s a touchscreen and it has an even higher 144Hz refresh rate. As the name suggests, the CX55 can flip around into “tablet” and “tent” modes, like many other ASUS Chromebooks. It doesn’t have RGB lighting on the keyboard, but it does have a rather distinctive orange trim, including around the crucial WASD keys; it also has 1.4mm of travel.

Specs-wise, the CX55 uses 11th-generation Intel processors; you can get it with an i3, i5 or i7. The i3 model is paired with Intel UHD graphics, while the i5 and i7 models use Intel’s Iris X graphics. It’ll have either 8GB or 16GB of RAM and up to 512GB of storage. Unsurprisingly, the CX55 also has two USB-C ports as well as USB-A and HDMI ports. The laptop will come out this month as well, and Google said in a briefing that pricing would start at $399 — we don’t know what specs that includes, but it’s probably safe to assume it’s the i3 model. 

Lenovo

Lenovo’s IdeaPad Gaming Chromebook has a fair bit in common with Acer’s device. It has a 16-inch display with a 2,560 x 1,600 resolution and 120Hz refresh rate as well as an RGB, anti-ghosting keyboard with 1.5mm of travel. Processors include 12th-generation Intel Core i3 or Core i5 options, plus 8GB of RAM and up to 512GB of storage (the base configuration starts with 128GB). The port selection is a bit more limited — it only offers two USB-C ports, one USB-A port and a MicroSD slot. Like the other two laptops, the IdeaPad Gaming Chromebook will launch this month; it starts at $599.

Software, gaming services and peripheral partnerships

Google

Naturally, software and game access is perhaps just as important as the hardware here. As such, Google has partnerships with NVIDIA, Amazon and Microsoft to ensure its devices work with GeForce Now, Luna and Xbox Game Pass out of the box. The NVIDIA partnership is probably the most significant, as the company is bringing GeForce Now's high-performance RTX 3080 tier to Chromebooks for the first time — this means games will play in up to 1600p resolution at 120 fps with ray tracing enabled (assuming the game supports these specs, of course). NVIDIA also made a progressive web app (PWA) so you can laugh directly into GeForce Now from your Chromebook’s dock or launcher. 

Microsoft also made a PWA for Game Pass, but everything works the same as running Game Pass on a PC — assuming you have an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription, you can stream any Game Pass title to your Chromebook. Similarly, an Amazon Luna subscription gives you access to a rotating selection of over 100 games. 

Google is also optimizing ChromeOS to make directly launching games easier. When you hit the “everything” search button on your Chromebook, you can just type in the name of the game you want to play and launch it directly, as if it were natively installed. For starters, this will only work with the GeForce Now catalog (as well as apps on Google Play), but Google says it wants to add this search feature for other services as well. 

To make sure that anyone checking out these Chromebooks can start playing immediately, Lenovo, Acer and ASUS are all including a three-month subscription to GeForce Now RTX 3080 tier as well as three months of Amazon Luna+. The ASUS option also includes a free SteelSeries Rival 3 gaming mouse, as well.

Speaking of mice, Google also partnered with companies like SteelSeries, Corsair and HyperX (as well as Lenovo and Acer) to make sure their gaming-focused peripherals work with Chromebooks. This includes making sure these peripherals can have their settings fine-tuned in ChromeOS, in some cases via PWAs. 

Do gaming Chromebooks have a shot?

It’s fair to wonder how much traction Google’s latest initiative will get. Chromebooks have found a lot of success in education and (to a lesser extent) enterprise settings, but the idea of a full-fledged push to get people gaming on a Chromebook is a pretty major shift. That said, I’m impressed by the pricing on these models — there aren’t a lot of Chromebooks with large, high-resolution screens with high refresh rates. Generally speaking, it sounds like you get a lot of bang for your buck with these models compared to some other premium ChromeOS devices. Naturally, these laptops are a big bigger and heavier than the standard 13-inch Chromebook, but that’s a tradeoff that might work for some people.

Google is also putting a big advertising and awareness push being this strategy, and it’s not tied to a single product like Stadia. Given that Google is being service-agnostic, these laptops should provide a very good cloud gaming experience for the foreseeable future, even if Google doesn’t stick with its cloud gaming push long term. And with other initiatives like Steam for ChromeOS moving forward (Google said it should enter beta soon), it's fair to say the company seems focused on removing the longstanding notion that you can't play games on a Chromebook.

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.

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.

Google Pixel Buds Pro

Billy Steele/Engadget

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.

Audio-Technica ATH-M20xBT

Audio-Technica

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 QuietComfort 45

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.

Beats Fit Pro

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.

Beats Studio Buds

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.

AirPods (2nd gen)

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.

Bose 700

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 LinkBuds

Billy Steele/Engadget

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 Galaxy Buds Pro

Billy Steele/Engadget

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 Elite 3

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 WF-1000XM4

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 Pixel Buds A-Series

Billy Steele/Engadget

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 Galaxy Buds 2

Billy Steele/Engadget

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 Momentum True Wireless 2

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 Elite 85t

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.

Echo

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 Charge 5

Jon Turi / Engadget

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 SRS-XB13

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.

Get the latest Amazon Prime Day offers by following @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribing to the Engadget Deals newsletter.

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?

– Mat Smith

The biggest stories you might have missed

• Apple's second-gen AirPods Pro drop to their lowest price ever for Prime Day

• Waymo's cafeteria workers are forming a union

• Hackers forced more than a dozen US public airport websites offline

• Google is shutting down its Assistant-powered Driving Mode

The best October Prime Day deals on Amazon devices we could find

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.

Continue reading.

The best accessories for your new iPhone

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.

Continue reading.

The best gaming laptops you can buy

Updated for 2022.

Engadget

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.

Continue reading.

Dutch court rules that being forced to keep a webcam on while working is illegal

A US company was fined $50,000.

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.

Continue reading.

Samsung's Tizen OS is coming to other brands' TVs

Rival LG just announced similar partnerships.

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.

Continue reading.

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.

AirPods Pro (2nd gen)

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.

Apple TV 4K

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.

Google Pixel 6a

Sam Rutherford / Engadget

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.

iPad

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.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4

Sam Rutherford/Engadget

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 Galaxy Z Flip 4

Cherlynn Low / Engadget

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 Pixel Buds Pro

Billy Steele/Engadget

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.

Audio-Technica ATH-M20xBT

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.

Echo Show 5

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.

Fire TV Stick 4K Max

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.

Kindle Paperwhite

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.

Beats Fit Pro

Billy Steele/Engadget

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 QuietComfort 45

Billy Steele/Engadget

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 Elite 3

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.

Google Nest Thermostat

Google

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.

48-inch LG A1 OLED

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 WiFi smart lock

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 Smart Monitor M8

Samsung

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.

Original Peloton Bike

Peloton

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.

Blink Mini

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.

Get the latest Amazon Prime Day offers by following @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribing to the Engadget Deals newsletter.

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.

Get the latest Amazon Prime Day offers by following @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribing to the Engadget Deals newsletter.

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.

Get the latest Amazon Prime Day offers by following @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribing to the Engadget Deals newsletter.

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.

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

For our money, Sony's WH-1000XM5 is the best set of wireless headphones on the market right now. They're absolutely worth considering if you're in need of a new set of cans or simply want an upgrade from what you're already rocking. Now might be the right time to take the leap, as the WH-1000XM5 is on sale for Prime Day. The headphones are currently $348, which is $50 off the regular price.

The WH-1000XM5 offers almost across-the-board improvements over the WH-1000XM4, our previous favorite headphones. An overdue redesign makes this model more comfortable than its predecessors, thanks to improved weight distribution and synthetic leather ear cups.

These headphones have new 30mm carbon fiber drivers, which we felt deliver punchier bass than the M4. In fact, the all-round sound quality is more refined, save for occasional skips while connected to a MacBook Pro — which may be a Bluetooth issue. Bolstered by eight active noise cancellation microphones, double the number found in the M4, the M5's ANC is better at minimizing background noise too. Speaking of mics, we found that the M5 offers the best call quality yet from the 1000X series.

Sony claims you'll get up to 30 hours of listening time from a single charge, and that's with ANC enabled. Our only major gripe with the M5 headphones is that they're typically $50 more expensive than the M4's regular price of $348. At least during the Prime Day sale, that's no longer an issue.

Apple's second-gen AirPods Pro haven't even been available for a month and you can still already find a deal on them. The price has dropped a bit as part of Amazon's major Prime Day sale. You'll be able to pick up a pair of the new AirPods Pro for $235, which is $14 off the regular price. Sure, that's not the steepest discount ever, but it's the lowest price we've seen for the earbuds to date.

We gave the latest AirPods Pro a score of 88 in our review, an improvement over the 87 we gave to the first-gen set. While the design is ostensibly the same, Apple made some upgrades to the internals (including the introduction of an H2 chip), as well as one on the outside. Its latest higher-end earbuds have swipe controls. However, we found them somewhat finicky and had to steady the stem with a thumb in order to control the volume by swiping. The second-gen AirPods Pro also offer so-so battery life (six hours with active noise cancellation enabled and seven hours with it off) and we had mixed results with the Personalized Spatial Audio feature, with a sound profile that was too treble-focused.

Overall, though, we felt that the second-gen AirPods Pro are a solid upgrade over the first-edition earbuds. Apple has improved the sound quality (including for SharePlay audio) and it offers the best transparency mode in any earbuds. The new AirPods Pro deliver solid ANC performance as well. On top of that, the ability to seamlessly switch from one Apple device to another is handy for those who are entrenched in the company's ecosystem.

As for the charging case, that now has a speaker, which should make it easier for people to pinpoint its location if they've misplaced it (having a U1 chip to locate it with Find My helps too). The case is IPX4 rated, like the earbuds, and it has a lanyard loop — though you'll need to buy a lanyard separately.

Get the latest Amazon Prime Day offers by following @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribing to the Engadget Deals newsletter.