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The best monitors for every budget in 2024
When it comes to finding the best PC monitors, there’s something for everyone, whether you’re after a reliable second screen, a higher resolution 4K display or a gaming setup that packs a punch. With options ranging from cheap monitors to high-end displays, today's market offers a wealth of choices for all budgets. But the world of monitors is about more than just screens; it’s about getting the right pixel density, understanding ergonomics and selecting the right match for your workspace or gaming setup.If you're curious about IPS monitors for vivid colors or are thinking of investing in a lower resolution display that doesn’t break the bank, there’s likely a monitor out there for you. We’ve gathered the top picks, including options from our own monitor reviews to help you find the best fit for your needs. Table of Contents Best monitors under $200 Best monitors under $400 Best monitors under $500 Best monitors under $1,000 Factors to consider Best monitors under $200 Best monitors under $400 Best monitors under $500 Best monitors under $1,000 Factors to consider Panel type The cheapest monitors are still TN (twisted nematic), which are strictly for gamers or office use. VA (vertical alignment) monitors are also relatively cheap, while offering good brightness and a high contrast ratio. However, content creators will find that LCD, IPS monitors (in-plane switching) deliver better color accuracy, pixel density, picture quality and viewing angles. If maximum brightness is important, a quantum dot LCD display is the way to go — those are typically found in larger displays. OLED monitors are now available and offer the best blacks and color reproduction, but they lack the brightness of LED or quantum dot displays. Plus, they cost a lot. The latest type of OLED monitor, called QD-OLED from Samsung, just came out in 2022. The most notable advantage is that it can get a lot brighter, with monitors shown at CES 2022 hitting up to 1,000 nits of peak brightness. MiniLEDs are now widely used in high-end displays. They’re similar to quantum dot tech, but as the name suggests, it uses smaller LED diodes that are just 0.2mm in diameter. As such, manufacturers can pack in up to three times more LEDs with more local dimming zones, delivering deeper blacks and better contrast. Screen size, resolution and display format In this day and age, screen size rules. Where 24-inch displays used to be more or less standard (and can still be useful for basic computing), 27-, 32-, 34- and even 42-inch displays have become popular for entertainment, content creation and even gaming these days. Nearly every monitor used to be 16:9, but it’s now possible to find 16:10 and other more exotic display shapes. On the gaming and entertainment side, we’re also seeing curved and ultrawide monitors with aspect ratios like 21:9. If you do decide to buy an ultrawide display, however, keep in mind that a 30-inch 21:9 model is the same height as a 24-inch monitor, so you might end up with a smaller display than you expected. As a rule of thumb, add 25 percent to the size of a 21:9 monitor to get the vertical height you’d expect from a model with a 16:9 aspect ratio. A 4K monitor is nearly a must for content creators, and some folks are even going for 5K or all the way up to 8K. Keep in mind, though, that you’ll need a pretty powerful computer with a decent graphics card to drive all those sharp pixels. And 4K resolution should be paired with a screen size of 27 inches and up, or you won’t notice much difference between 1440p. At the same time, I wouldn’t get a model larger than 27 inches unless it’s 4K, as you’ll start to see pixelation if you’re working up close to the display. One new category to consider is portable monitors designed to be carried and used with laptops. Those typically come in 1080p resolutions and sizes from 13-15 inches. They usually have a lightweight kickstand-type support that folds up to keep things compact. HDR HDR is the buzzy monitor feature to have these days, as it adds vibrancy to entertainment and gaming – but be careful before jumping in. Some monitors that claim HDR on the marketing materials don’t even conform to a base standard. To be sure that a display at least meets minimum HDR specs, you’ll want to choose one with a DisplayHDR rating with each tier representing maximum brightness in nits. However, the lowest DisplayHDR 400 and 500 tiers may disappoint you with a lack of brightness, washed out blacks and mediocre color reproduction. If you can afford it, the best monitor to choose is a model with DisplayHDR 600, 1000 or True Black 400, True Black 500 and True Black 600. The True Black settings are designed primarily for OLED models, with maximum black levels at .0005 nits. Where televisions typically offer HDR10 and Dolby Vision or HDR10+, most PC monitors only support the HDR10 standard, other than a few (very expensive) models. That doesn’t matter much for content creation or gaming, but HDR streaming on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and other services won’t look quite as punchy. In addition, the best gaming monitors are usually the ones supporting HDR600 (and up), rather than content creation monitors – with a few exceptions. Refresh rate Refresh rate is a key feature, particularly on gaming monitors. A bare minimum nowadays is 60Hz, and 80Hz and higher refresh rates are much easier on the eyes. However, most 4K displays top out at 60Hz with some rare exceptions and the HDMI 2.0 spec only supports 4K at 60Hz, so you’d need at least DisplayPort 1.4 (4K at 120Hz) or HDMI 2.1. The latter is now available on a number of monitors, particularly gaming displays. However, it’s only supported on the latest NVIDIA RTX 3000- and 4000-series, AMD RX 6000-series GPUs. Inputs There are essentially three types of modern display inputs: Thunderbolt, DisplayPort and HDMI. Most monitors built for PCs come with the latter two, while a select few (typically built for Macs) will use Thunderbolt. To add to the confusion, USB-C ports may be Thunderbolt 3 and by extension, DisplayPort compatible, so you may need a USB-C to Thunderbolt or DisplayPort cable adapter depending on your display. Color bit depth Serious content creators should consider a more costly 10-bit monitor that can display billions of colors. If budget is an issue, you can go for an 8-bit panel that can fake billions of colors via dithering (often spec’d as “8-bit + FRC”). For entertainment or business purposes, a regular 8-bit monitor that can display millions of colors will be fine. Color gamut The other aspect of color is the gamut. That expresses the range of colors that can be reproduced and not just the number of colors. Most good monitors these days can cover the sRGB and Rec.709 gamuts (designed for photos and video respectively). For more demanding work, though, you’ll want one that can reproduce more demanding modern gamuts like AdobeRGB, DCI-P3 and Rec.2020 gamuts, which encompass a wider range of colors. The latter two are often used for film projection and HDR, respectively. Console gaming Both the Xbox Series X and Sony’s PS5 can handle 4K 120Hz HDR gaming, so if you’re into resolution over pure speed, you’ll want a monitor that can keep up and provide the best gaming experience possible. 4K resolution, HDR and at least 120Hz is the minimum starting point, but fortunately there are 27-inch displays with those specs starting at well under $1,000, so you can still achieve high FPS gaming without breaking the bank. Pricing and parts shortages Though the pandemic has eased, monitor supply is still a bit tighter than pre-pandemic levels due to supply and demand issues. To that end, you may have trouble finding monitors at Amazon, B&H or elsewhere for the suggested retail price point. For our guide below, we’re basing our picks on the MSRP, as long as the street price doesn’t exceed that by more than $25.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/accessories/best-monitor-130006843.html?src=rss
Published: 2024-11-28 10:01:26
The best fast chargers for 2024
Fast chargers are basically a must-have nowadays. With so many of our devices demanding more power — think phones, tablets, laptops and even wearables — a standard charger just doesn’t cut it anymore. Fast chargers come in all shapes, sizes and types, each designed to get your device back to full battery as quickly and efficiently as possible. But not all fast chargers are created equal. Depending on your device and charging needs, you’ll find different standards and technologies that can make a huge difference in charging speed and compatibility.One popular type is the power delivery (PD) wall charger (Power Delivery), which has become the go-to for many people using USB-C-enabled devices. It offers a universal standard, meaning you can use the same USB-C wall charger to power up your smartphone, tablet and even some laptops. Another advancement in fast-charging tech is the Gallium Nitride (GaN) wall charger. Unlike older adapters, GaN chargers are more compact and efficient, handling higher power levels without overheating. This makes them perfect for anyone wanting a small but mighty charger they can toss in their bag.For Apple users, MagSafe fast charging has also become a big trend, providing a seamless way to snap your iPhone onto a magnetic charger and enjoy speedy, wireless charging. And if you have an older iPhone and you’re looking for the quickest charge possible, pairing a USB-C to lightning cable with a compatible fast charger can work wonders.Ultimately, finding the right fast charger is about matching your devices with the correct power and standard. Whether you’re looking for a super-fast charge for your phone, need to juice up your laptop on the go or want something versatile for multiple devices, there’s a fast charger out there that fits the billl.Editor's Note (June 2024): While we’re still waiting for more new chargers to come out so we can do a full update to our guide, some appealing options have hit the market recently. At the end of March, Pluggable announced a super slim two-port 40W USB-C adapter that seems like a great travel companion for keeping a phone and a tablet topped up simultaneously. One neat feature is its smart power allocation tech, which allows the charger to dynamically shift how much juice each device gets to best maximize efficiency.Meanwhile, for those looking for something beefier, UGreen released an entire new line of devices with enticing specs. The most notable of these is a 160-watt GaN charger, featuring four ports (three USB-C and one USB-A) that can split power output between multiple devices at once or charge one laptop at up to 140 watts. This gives UGreen’s brick a ton of flexibility while still being able to refill even a beefy 16-inch MacBook Pro at top speed. Alternatively, Satechi’s latest 145w charger offers similar (though slightly lower) power output and comes with an assortment of international plug adapters, which could be a real luxury for frequent travelers. But perhaps most importantly, both of these devices cost $40 to $50 less than our current favorite high-wattage charger (Razer’s 130W GaN adapter), so we’re looking forward to testing these out in more depth soon. Best fast chargers for 2024 When it comes to charging small devices, 30 watts is by far the most popular as it covers most cell phones along with some larger devices like the Nintendo Switch. In our testing, all of the 30-watt chargers performed equally well, with each one able to get the iPhone to around 80 percent battery charge in less than an hour while also completely refilling the Galaxy phone in 60 minutes. However, as you can see, these smaller, low-wattage bricks struggled to refill both the XPS 13 and especially the MacBook Pro. Yes, you can do it, but it's rather sluggish (the XPS 13 even surfaced a slow charger notification), and because I tested each device while idle, there’s a good chance these chargers may not be able to keep these laptops topped up while under load. The Anker 711 (middle right) is our favorite 30-watt charger thanks to its fast speeds and compact size. Sam Rutherford/Engadget However, the one thing that sticks out is the performance of Apple’s 20-watt brick, whose lower output caused it to lag behind — every other adapter provided faster charging. While it was able to keep up with rival devices when refilling the iPhone, its wattage is so low it couldn’t even trickle charge the XPS 13. Dell’s power management did not even recognize that a charger was plugged in. That means this adapter is much less useful if you need to quick charge more power-hungry gadgets in a pinch. And I should mention I didn’t bother testing the old 15-watt Apple power cubes, which can’t even support the iPhone’s full 20-watt charging speeds. Anyone still using one of those really ought to upgrade to a fast wall charger. If all you want is a power brick to keep small devices powered up, our choice for best charger is clear: the Anker Nano. Not only did it deliver the best speeds in its class, but it's also the smallest, which makes it super easy for it to disappear in a bag. The one we tested, the Anker 711 charger, is an older model at this point, but you should get the same performance from the latest version, the 30W Nano 3. However, it’s worth noting that both models support Type-C charging only, and do not feature a USB-A port. Here’s where things start to get interesting because while a number of these chargers have similar power outputs (aside from the Samsung 45-watt brick, of course), the actual results were a bit more varied. Both the Nekteck and the Belkin only managed to get the Galaxy phone to around 80 percent battery after an hour, compared to the Anker, Samsung and Satechi chargers which all hit 100. This suggests that both chargers aren’t properly communicating with Samsung's phone in order to take advantage of its super-fast charging speeds, which I was able to confirm by using a USB-C volt meter. Meanwhile, as expected, Samsung’s 45-watt charger did great when connected to the Galaxy handset, but its lower output meant it could not keep up with the 60 and 65-watt bricks. Anker once again takes the crown for our favorite 60-watt charger with the 735 (middle), because even though it's a bit more expensive than the Nekteck, it's smaller, has more ports, and features wider compatibility with more devices like the S22 Ultra. Sam Rutherford/Engadget Somewhat surprisingly, every charger in this category performed well when hooked up to the XPS 13, with each adapter finishing within one percent of each other (around 58 percent) after an hour. However, when it comes to the thirsty MacBook Pro, every extra watt makes a difference, with the Anker 735 and Samsung Triple Port Charger edging out the competition, even though they’re still much slower than Apple’s included brick. It’s also telling that on the Belkin 60W, its fastest charging port actually denotes charging speeds of between 50 and 60 watts, which is why it couldn’t quite keep up with the other 60-watt chargers I tested. As for picking a winner, Nekteck’s 60-watt brick is the cheapest while also being one of the few options that come with an included charging cable. However, with only a single charging port and sub-optimal compatibility with the Samsung phone, it’s hard to fully recommend. For my money, I’d go with the Anker 735 as it's smaller, slightly faster and the same price as Samsung’s 65W Triple Port charger, while still offering a total of three USB ports (two USB-C and one USB-A port). Plus, its foldable prongs make it perfect for traveling. For anyone considering a high-power USB-C fast charger, here’s where it’s important to pay attention to the fine print. While all of these bricks are listed at or above 100 watts, the primary charging ports on the Satechi and Belkin are actually capped at 90 or 96 watts. And that’s before you consider multi-device charging, which splits the total output across the other ports with the ratio varying depending on the specific model. This is where hubs or dual-port chargers can come in handy, as they allow you to charge multiple devices more efficiently. While Razer's 130-watt GaN charger (top middle) is the most expensive of the bunch at $180, it earned our pick as the best 100-watt or higher charger due to its more compact design, strong power output and the inclusion of useful extras like international outlet adapters and a braided 100-watt USB-C cord. Sam Rutherford/Engadget During testing, all four had no issue topping up the smartphones, the Switch and the XPS 13, though once again Belkin’s adapter couldn’t fully recharge the Galaxy phone despite having more than enough wattage. On the flip side, while Razer’s USB C charger has a higher max output than either the Belkin or the Satechi, there wasn’t much difference in charging speeds when connected to the MacBook Pro. And this isn’t due to a lack of higher wattage cables, as both USB-C ports on the Razer brick are capped at a combined 100 watts. Meanwhile, as one of the rare 140-watt power adapters on the market, Apple’s brick is super quick and did an expectedly great job of refilling the MacBook Pro. However, I should mention that it's the only power brick in this segment that comes with a single port, which kind of feels like a missed opportunity for the Apple ecosystem. For those who need extra flexibility, wireless charging options are worth considering, though they might not offer the same speed as wired connectors. So for anyone that wants a charger that can top up an ultraportable laptop quickly while still having juice to spare, I prefer Razer’s 130-watt GaN adapter. It’s the best charger in this category, as well as the smallest and most expensive at $180. On top of that, it comes with two international wall adapters (for UK and EU outlets) and a braided 100-watt USB-C cable, all of which you don’t get from any others in this category. If you need a reliable power bank or fast charger on the go, this could be a good investment. Wrap-up Sam Rutherford/Engadget Obviously, there are a lot more than just 14 super fast chargers on the market, and sadly I don’t have the time to test them all. These days, discharging a phone from 100 percent battery to dead can take upwards of 15 hours, so depending on the device, I can only test one USB phone charger per day. Just gathering all this data took the better part of two months. And unfortunately, while I was running this test, Anker came out with a new generation of power adapters that I haven't had the chance to evaluate just yet. That said there are still some important takeaways. First, in order to ensure optimal charging speeds, you should pay attention to the charging standards of your device and the fast charger; make sure your charger can supply the proper amount of power. Manufacturers typically list a device’s max charging speeds, while power adapters clearly label their USB types and outputs. And when in doubt, you can look at the fine text on the charger itself, though you might have to do some math. Just remember, watts equals volts times amps. Furthermore, in the case of adapters with multiple ports, you’ll check to see how its total wattage is split when connected to multiple devices. Then there are other factors like size and weight you’ll want to consider, with newer gallium nitride adapters (GaN) often featuring more compact designs and better power efficiency. And if you’re ever truly in doubt, you can simply opt for a fast charger made by the same company as your Android phone, iPhone, laptop or other gadgets, something that’s especially true for devices like the OnePlus 10T that feature speedy proprietary charging protocols. How we tested fast chargers The methodology for my fast charging experiment is intended to be as straightforward as possible. I drained each device to 10 percent battery, plugged in a power brick and then recorded the amount of charge added every 10 minutes for an hour. Each adapter was plugged directly into a standard 120-volt outlet (without the use of a power strip or any extension cords), and when possible I used the cable that either came included with the battery charger or one made by the same manufacturer as the device. If that wasn’t an option, I used certified 100-watt USB-C cables made by Anker, Apple and others. Because the charging rate for devices varies depending on how much juice you have, I wanted to measure how well each adapter was able to match each gadget’s optimal charging speed. Generally, charging is slower between zero and 20 percent before speeds ramp up until the battery hits 80 percent, at which point things slow down again to protect and preserve the health and longevity of the power cell. For charging stations with multiple ports, I always selected the port with the highest power output while also not having multiple devices connected. Sam Rutherford/Engadget As for the devices themselves, I selected an Apple iPhone 13, a Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, a Nintendo Switch (a launch model from 2017), a 2021 Dell XPS 13 and a 16-inch M1 Max MacBook Pro. This assortment was chosen to cover a wide range of specs and power draws from 20 watts (iPhone 13) all the way up to 140 watts (M1 Max MBP). Also, every system was tested while idle (i.e. no additional apps or games running) in order to ensure consistent results. One important thing to note is that while the USB Implementers Forum has approved support for USB Power Delivery (USB-PD) charging at up to 240 watts, adapters that actually support that power output don’t exist yet. Additionally, while there are a handful of cables that can handle more than 100 watts of juice, they are somewhat rare or hard to get. What is GaN? When looking for chargers, you may notice that some are marked as GaN, which stands for gallium nitride. This is an important distinction because, compared to older adapters that use silicon switches, GaN-based devices support increased power efficiency and output, allowing manufacturers to create more compact chargers that run cooler and support higher wattages. Depending on the specific power output, GaN chargers can be 30 to 50 percent smaller and lighter than silicon-based alternatives. That might not sound like much, but when they’re sitting in a bag alongside a laptop, phone and any other accessories you might have, cutting down on excess bulk and weight can go a long way. Fast chargers we tested With so many different chargers of varying power outputs to test, I broke things down into three categories. There are the 30-watt and under chargers, which are primarily designed for smartphones and other small mobile devices. Then we move up to 45 to 65-watt chargers (give or take a watt or two) that can handle things like phones along with a number of thin and light laptops. Finally, we have chargers that output 100 watts or more, which are good for pretty much anything besides the biggest and most power-hungry gaming laptops. Many of these higher wattage adapters also feature multiple ports, so can you top up additional devices at full speed. However, because not every power brick supports multi-device charging, I didn’t include that as a testing metric. You can see a full list of the chargers we tested below: Apple 20W charger Anker 711 Nano II 30W charger Google 30W USB-C power charger Satechi 30W USB-C PD GaN wall charger Samsung 45W USB-C Fast Charging wall charger Belkin 60W USB-C PD GaN wall charger Nekteck 60W USB-C GaN charger Anker 735 Nano II 65W charger Samsung 65W Trio adapter Satechi 66W USB-C 3-Port GaN wall charger Satechi 100W USB-PD wall charger Belkin 108W 4-Port GaN charger Razer USB-C 130W GaN charger Apple 140W USB-C power adapter This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/accessories/best-fast-chargers-140011033.html?src=rss
Published: 2024-11-28 08:00:38
The FTC is investigating Uber for its subscription policies
The Federal Trade Commission has put Uber in its sights once again. Bloomberg reported that the regulator is investigating complaints about the Uber One subscription program. Customers alleged that the company signed users up for the service without their consent and made it difficult to cancel their subscriptions. According to documents seen by Bloomberg, the Commission opened this inquiry earlier this year. "We will continue to answer any questions the FTC may have about our cancellation policies,” Uber representative Noah Edwardsen told the publication. "The Uber One cancellation process follows both the letter and the spirit of the law: Uber One members can easily cancel their membership in the app — in fact, the majority of those cancellations take 20 seconds or less." Earlier in 2024, the FTC ratified a "click to cancel" rule that requires companies make it as easy to end a subscription as it is to start one. The regulator sued Amazon and Adobe for similar claims around their subscription products within the past year. This also isn't the first time the FTC has examined the rideshare company. Uber agreed to a settlement with the agency in 2017 around questions of exaggerating driver income to encourage recruitment. In 2018, the company also reached an accord around a data breach and misconduct in trying to cover up the scope of the problem.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/the-ftc-is-investigating-uber-for-its-subscription-policies-232453366.html?src=rss
Published: 2024-11-27 23:24:54
Steam’s Autumn Sale sees deep discounts on LCD Steam Decks and select games
It may not be Black Friday yet, but the holiday shopping blitz is already well underway with some significant discounts on games and gaming devices. Steam is in the middle of its Autumn Sale that runs until December 4 and includes a discount on the LCD Steam Deck. No, it’s not the OLED Steam Deck, but Steam is offering the 512GB Steam Deck with a 25 percent discount that brings the price down to $336.75. Steam’s sale also offered the smaller 64GB LCD model with a 15 percent discount for less than $300 but they’ve already run out of stock. This may be the best time to pick up a Steam Deck since last summer. In June, Steam knocked down the price of the 64GB variant to just under $300 and the 512GB version for under $400. The 64 and 512GB models are discontinued and won’t be available once Steam runs out of stock. The 256GB LCD model is sticking around for a little while longer for those gamers who can’t afford the fancier versions. If you’re going to buy a Steam Deck, you’ll need some games to play on it. Steam Autumn Sale also includes some sweet deals on games like Baldur’s Gate 3 for $47.99 and Total War: Warhammer III for $23.99 and early access to Supergiant’s Hades II for $26.99. Steam also has some cool discounts on older games that you’ve been meaning to play like Double Fine’s Psychonauts 2 and Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey for $6 each, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order for $4 and Cities Skylines for $3.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/steams-autumn-sale-sees-deep-discounts-on-lcd-steam-decks-and-select-games-202918983.html?src=rss
Published: 2024-11-27 20:29:19
The best projector for 2024
If you’re looking to take your movie nights, gaming sessions or even big sports games to a whole new level, a projector is a great investment. With projectors, you’re not limited to a single screen size; you can expand the display to fit almost any wall or even set up a big screen outdoors for those summer movie nights under the stars. And if you’re really looking to make the most of your space, a projector can even replace your TV, giving you that cinema-like experience right at home without a bulky screen taking up too much room.Whether you’re setting it up in the living room, a dedicated home theater or taking it outside for an outdoor movie night, projectors add a ton of versatility and excitement. Plus, many projectors now come packed with features like high resolutions and vibrant colors, so you’re not sacrificing quality for size. Table of contents Best UST projectors under $7,000 Best projectors under $6,000 Best UST projectors under $3,500 Best projector under $2,000 Best projectors under $1,000 Best budget portable projectors What to look for in a projector The technology: LCD and DLP projectors Projector FAQs Engadget's top picks As with previous updates, I’m dividing projectors into ultra-short-throw and long-throw categories. As mentioned, ultra-short-throw models have rapidly established themselves in the market due to the extra performance and convenience, and all manufacturers sell at least a couple of models. Within the ultra-short-throw category, We’ll compare two price categories: under $7,000 and $3,500, with three projectors each. In the long-throw category, we’re again looking at projectors under $1,000, $2,000 and $6,000, with three products in each range. Finally, we’ll take a look at the best portable projectors. Best UST projectors under $7,000 More ultra-short-throw projectors under $7,000 Epson EpiqVision Ultra LS500 If you need the brightest possible image, Epson’s LCD-powered EpiqVision Ultra LS500 ($3,899) delivers. It’s rated at up to 4,000 lumens, making it one of the brightest ultra-short-throw projectors in any price range. It also supports HDR modes in HDR10 and HLG and is sold with both 100-inch and 120-inch ALR screens, making the price effectively lower. The main drawback is that it only offers double the pixels of 1080p, rather than four times like competing DLP tech. It also offers a relatively weak 10-watt built-in speaker system. HiSense L9G This is HiSense’s new $4,300 flagship UST that uses a tricolor laser to achieve high brightness (3,000 ANSI lumens) and an incredible 107 percent BT.2020 HDR coverage, topping even Samsung’s formidable LSP9T. It has a powerful 40W Dolby Atmos sound system and built-in Android TV with Google Assistant and Alexa. Best of all, that price includes a 100-inch ALR Daylight screen, or for an extra $500, you can get it with a 120-inch ALR cinema screen. Best projectors under $6,000 More projectors under $6,000 Optoma UHZ65LV Optoma’s $6,000 UHZ65LV also uses a long-lasting laser light source to deliver a 5,000 lumen image, much brighter than any lamp-powered projector. It also delivers true 4K resolution up to 60p, thanks to the TI 0.66-inch DLP chip. The extra brightness and contrast make it ideal for HDR10 or HLG content. It also comes with desirable features for a long-throw laser projector, like a 1.6x zoom and vertical lens shift. LG CineBeam HU810PW 4K Speaking of long-throw laser projectors, LG’s $3,000 CineBeam HU810PW is another excellent pick at a much lower price point. There are some compromises, as the laser light pushes out a lower 2,700 lumens (that’s still a lot), and it has a smaller 0.47-inch DLP chip that delivers slightly lower perceived resolution. However, it has dual blue and green lasers which help it deliver accurate HDR colors with an excellent 97 percent DCI-P3 coverage. It also offers a 1.6x zoom with lens shift and an HDMI 2.1 port that allows for 4K at 60p with up to 12-bit color depth. It comes with LG’s webOS, so it supports Amazon Prime, Netflix, Hulu and other streaming services without the need for a dongle. Sony VPL-VW295ES If you’re looking for a true, native 4K projector, Sony’s $4,500 VPL-VW295ES is the least costly option out there. It’s by far the sharpest 4K projector in this roundup, thanks to Sony’s proprietary 4K SXRD native DCI 4K (4,096 x 2,160) panels. It also delivers extremely accurate colors, with 100 percent DCI-P3 coverage and HDR10/HLG support. You also get niceties like a 2.06 zoom lens with powered zoom, lens shift and focus. The main drawback is a relatively dim 1,500 lumen brightness, but it’s a top pick if picture quality is paramount above all. Best UST projectors under $3,500 More ultra-short-throw projectors under $3,500 Optoma CinemaX P2 Optoma’s CinemaX P2 made our list last year, but it’s one of the best projectors now because the price has dropped considerably. It delivers 3,000 lumen brightness, impressive contrast ratio and accurate colors with 80 percent DCI-P3 coverage. It’s not quite as sharp as the pricier projectors, as it uses TI’s 0.47-inch rather than 0.66-inch DLP tech, though you’ll still get a near-4K image. The CinemaX P2 may also better match your living room decor, as it comes in white rather than dark grey like the P1. The 40-watt NuForce Dolby Digital 2.0 soundbar is one of the best on any ultra-short-throw projector, as well. On the downside, it does offer apps but they’re not as good as you’ll find on, say, Google’s Chromecast. BenQ V7050i BenQ’s first UST laser projector is at the top end of the price scale at $3,500, but it offers some impressive capabilities. Light output is a bright 2,500 ANSI lumens and it delivers a full 98 percent DCI-P3 coverage for as good an HDR experience as you can get on a projector. You also get a Filmmaker Mode to see colors as the directors intended. It’s powered by Android TV so you get all the streaming services and apps you want, along with apps, games and more. The downside is the lack of decent speakers, as it only offers dual 5-watt speakers with clear sound but limited bass. Epson EpiqVision Ultra LS300W If you’re okay with 1080p projection, Epson’s EpiqVision Ultra LS300W is a very interesting option because of the design, excellent sound, built-in Android TV and extreme 3,600 ANSI lumen brightness. That allows for a wide color gamut with no rainbow effect, excellent connectivity and very good sound without the need to buy a soundbar or surround sound system. Best of all, it’s priced at just $2,000, making it one of the cheaper short-throw projectors out there. Best projectors under $2,000 More projectors under $2,000 Optoma UHD38 For extra brightness and speed for gaming, the answer is Optoma’s all-new, $1,600 4K-capable UHD38. It cranks the lumens up to 4,000 and like the Viewsonic PX701-4K, offers 240Hz gaming at 1080p with one of the lowest latency figures we’ve seen yet in a projector at 4.2 milliseconds. Otherwise, you can do 4K 60 Hz gaming with 16.7 milliseconds of lag, which is very quick for 4K. It’s optimized more for gaming than entertainment unlike BenQ’s HT3550i, but it can still handle HDR10 and HLG. It supports both zoom (albeit just 1.1x), but also vertical and horizontal lens shift. Epson Home Cinema 4010 4K Pro Epson’s $2,000 Home Cinema 4010 4K Pro is the Cadillac of under-$2K home projectors thanks to features like 2,400 lumen brightness, dynamic iris, and motorized zoom (2.1x), focus and lens shift. This Epson projector delivers in picture quality too, covering 100 percent of the DCI-P3 color space in cinema mode with both HDR10 and HLG. It also offers near-4K quality using 1,920 x 1,080 LCD image chips with pixel shifting. The drawbacks are lack of support for 60Hz 4K due to the HDMI 1.4 ports. If you need that, want to pay a bit less and don’t care about the motorized focus, Epson’s $1,700 Home Cinema 3080 4K Pro is the way to go. It offers similar features like HDR10 and HLG, but supports 4K 60p thanks to the HDMI 2.0b ports. There’s no motorization and the zoom drops to 1.6x, but it supports generous tilt, shift and zoom ranges. Best projectors under $1,000 More projectors under $1,000 BenQ HT2050A For around $700, the BenQ HT2050A is still one of the best budget 1080p projectors. It delivers where it counts with the best contrast (ANSI 1,574:1) and color accuracy in its class, and is reasonably bright as well, with 2,200 lumens in "vivid" mode. On top of that, it comes with a 1.3x zoom and vertical lens shift option for maximum installation flexibility. The drawbacks include slightly excessive fan noise, rainbow effect and red-tinted 3D. Optoma HD146X If you’re looking to spend a little less on a budget projector, the Optoma HD146X is your best option. Using DLP tech, it delivers 1080p at up to 3,600 lumens with excellent brightness, color accuracy, contrast and black levels. You also get decent (16.4-millisecond) input lag for gaming. The drawbacks are a single HDMI port, 1.1x optical zoom and poor built-in audio. Best budget portable projectors More budget portable projectors BenQ GS2 This $470 model is designed specifically for outdoor entertainment, so it’s battery-powered and splash and shock resistant – making it your best bet for backyard movie nights or for watching sports events, camping and more. It’s also one of the brightest portable projectors out there and has a battery life of up to three hours. This outdoor projector only delivers 720p resolution, but it does come with a streaming app in the form of Aptoide TV. Anker Nebula Solar HD This full HD projector has a pretty rich feature set considering the $600 price including a battery. This portable projector delivers 400 lumens for reasonably bright outdoor use, has a reasonably powerful 2x3W speaker system with Dolby Digital Plus, comes with Android TV and has a built-in stand for easy adjustment. What to look for in a projector Ultra-short-throw Since the last time we updated our guide, ultra-short-throw projectors have become the hot new category, offering several benefits. You can mount them close to the wall like a TV, with no need to run wires through the walls and ceiling, but still get an immersive image as large as 120 inches — something that’s impossible with a TV unless you’re very rich. They use brighter lasers that never need to be replaced — and because laser light is collimated, focusing is eliminated. They’re also physically less awkward to install than a ceiling-mounted projector, though that doesn’t mean installation is super easy. To get the perfect screen fit and alignment, you must place them an exact height and distance from your wall or screen. This can be quite a pain, as I’ve discovered. You also need a perfectly flat wall or projector screen, because ultra-short-throw projectors beam up at an acute angle, so any imperfections will show as shadows. For that reason, you can’t use a roll-down screen because they have slight ripples. For the best results, particularly with a lot of ambient light, you should use an ambient light-rejecting (ALR) screen. Those have small ridges that reflect light from below back to your eyes, but absorb any light (ie ambient light) that comes from above. For one of those, you’ll need to budget at least $450 and way up. Some projectors, including models from Epson and HiSense, come with ALR screens. Brightness and contrast Home theater projectors generally range in brightness between 2,000 to 4,000 lumens, but you'll need to take those figures with a grain of salt. Some models might actually hit 3,000 lumens or more, but cranking the lamp to that level will hurt the image quality and lifespan of your bulb. Also, some manufacturers tend to exaggerate maximum brightness. As a point of reference, many 4K flat panel TVs nowadays can hit 1,000 nits of brightness, but the brightest consumer projectors only display between 100 and 150 nits from the screen. That’s not as big a deal as it might seem, because projector images are much larger and meant to be used in dark rooms, where your eyes will automatically adjust to the light and “brighten” the image. Contrast is also substantially different on home theater projectors. Unlike OLED TVs, projectors don’t allow for zero black levels because of ambient light, reflections and other reasons. You also can’t have local dimming zones found on LED TVs for true blacks. Some projectors do have a dynamic iris to improve the contrast scene-by-scene, but those can often produce a “pumping” effect, with the image dimming or brightening in mid-scene. Elite Starling Mounting and fan noise A big advantage of regular long throw projectors is that you can mount the projector and screen on the ceiling, using zero space in your room. If you plan to do that, don’t forget to budget for a mounting bracket and any necessary long cables, including extra power for Google's finicky Chromecast (though you could opt for a smart projector with built-in streaming apps instead). Also, keep in mind that it's easier to mount a lightweight home theater projector, and DLP models are usually lighter than those with LCD tech. Some projectors are noisier than others, and usually the more you spend, the less noise you get. Many of the new 4K DLP projectors, when operating in 4K mode, are particularly noisy. There's one other (cool) thing: if you have a portable projector or even one that is relatively easy to take down and put up, you can take it outside for magical night screenings under the stars. HDR and resolution As related to projectors, these things could each take up an entire article. In fact, they have — for a deeper dive, take a look at Projector Central’s excellent takes on HDR and resolution. On the resolution front, only expensive projectors have native 4K resolution; indeed, most movie theaters still use 2K projectors for various reasons. However, there are many relatively inexpensive DLP projectors that use pixel-shifting to attain 4K resolution. That system emits each pixel four times while moving it to the correct position for a 4K image, all in less than 1/60th of a second. As such, it puts as many pixels on the screen in the same amount of time as a 4K native projector — and visually, it performs nearly as well. On the other hand, Epson's LCD “4K enhanced” projectors also have 1080p resolution, but the image is just shifted twice, not four times. So, those projectors are not 4K natively or otherwise, but do produce double the pixel count of a 1080p projector. If you really want a 4K native projector, you’ll have to pay: two of the cheapest ones are Sony's VPL-VW295ES ($5,000) and JVC's DLA-NX5 ($5,000). HDR is a very different animal on projectors compared to TVs. As mentioned, projectors can’t produce anywhere close to the amount of light required (1,000 nits) to qualify as true HDR. Rather, they use a technique called tone-mapping to fit the entire HDR gamut into a lower brightness range. For that reason, among others, almost all projectors only support HDR10. Only one uses Dolby Vision (the Xiaomi Laser Cinema 2, only available officially in China), and just a couple of models work with Samsung’s HDR10+ — and those are Samsung’s own Premiere 4K models. However, most support a wider 10-bit color gamut that allows for superior color reproduction. Optics If you're mounting a short- or long-throw projector between five and 25 feet, you might need to consider the zoom range and whether the projector has a lens shift option. A decent zoom range will make it easier to mount the projector where you want with the screen size that you want. If the projector has an auto focus feature, it will adjust the lens to create a sharper image by calculating the distance between your projector and the wall or screen. Lens shift, meanwhile, is used if the projector is mounted higher or lower relative to the screen than recommended by the manufacturer (or any horizontal distance off center). That creates a trapezoidal shaped image, but by dialing in some lens shift, you can optically square it up. Otherwise, you might have to use a "keystone correction," which digitally stretches or shrinks part of the image, resulting in noticeable distortion or pixel artifacts. Digital correction might not work in gaming modes either, for some projector models. Gaming If you’re interested in a gaming projector, you’ll want to look up the refresh rate and input lag figures. Some new projectors from Viewsonic, Optoma and others offer up to 240 Hz 1080p refresh rates and input lag settings down to 4 or 5 milliseconds. When paired with a compatible projection screen, you can expect an immersive experience from your game console on the big screen. However, some projectors designed more for home entertainment have very poor input lag and refresh rates at just 60 Hz. Portable projectors Finally, portable projectors have become popular enough to merit discussion this year. They’re relatively cheap, compact and portable and can run on batteries – making them ideal for entertainment outside or while camping. These outdoor projectors are not nearly as bright as others, of course, but are more designed for a fun night of entertainment under the stars. The technology: LCD and DLP projectors Here are the basics: Traditional projectors generally use two types of technology, LCD and DLP. They’re fundamentally different systems, with their own advantages and drawbacks. The rise of ultra-short-throw projectors and brighter long-throw models, meanwhile, has been powered by falling prices in laser illumination technology. Lasers are a far better solution than lamps, because they’re brighter and last far longer — up to 30,000 hours instead of 6,000. That’s essentially a lifetime of use (about 10 years). Most projector manufacturers now use DLPs, or digital light processing units, manufactured nearly exclusively by Texas Instruments (TI). The heart of the tech is an optical semiconductor called a digital micromirror device (DMD) that contains millions of aluminum mirrors. Those tilt either toward the light source (on) or away from it (off) at up to 5,000 times per second. Budget projectors like BenQ’s HT3550i use TI’s 0.47-inch DMD, while higher end models, like the Samsung Premium LSP9T use the 0.66-inch chip. Both use mirrors that tilt by +12 and -12 degrees for white and black, but TI recently unveiled a new 0.47-inch 4K-capable DMD with +/-17 degrees of tilt, which should enhance both brightness and contrast. DLP projector makers include LG, Optoma, LG, BenQ and Panasonic. The benefits of the tech are portability (like Samsung’s The Freestyle 180-degree projector), high contrast, less fringing and cheaper projectors, especially 4K and ultra-short-throw models. The biggest drawback is the rainbow effect, or bright red/blue/green artifacts that affect some viewers more than others. LCD tech, meanwhile, uses a prism to split a light source into red, green and blue beams. Those then pass through LCD displays containing the image and converge via another prism before passing through the projector’s lens. Epson is the primary user of LCD tech, along with Sony, Sanyo and others. LCD projectors tend to be sharper, more efficient and more color accurate, but have lower contrast ratios and can experience image degradation over time. In general, they’re also more expensive. Projector FAQs Are 4K projectors better? Yes, because higher resolution is more noticeable on larger screens, so 4K is particularly useful with projectors since they beam images up to 200 inches in size. That being said, brightness and contrast are more important. Is a projector better than a TV? Projectors can provide a more immersive experience thanks to the large screen, but they’re not necessarily “better.” Since you usually have to dim the lights with a projector, TVs are superior for everyday use. Is 2000 lumens bright enough for a projector? Yes, 2000 lumens is easily bright enough, even with some ambient light in the room. However, the image will still be hard to see with the windows open on a bright day. Should I get a 4K or 1080p projector? That depends on your budget and needs. If your budget is below $1,000, look for a 1080p projector with the best brightness and contrast. Between $1,000-$2,000, you’ll need to weigh whether brightness or 4K resolution is most important. Above that, choose the brightest 4K projector you can afford. What are the best projectors in daylight? The best projectors in daylight are ultra short throw (UST) models, as they have the brightest and sharpest image. However, they generally cost more than $2,000. Do you need a screen for a better projector experience? Technically, you don’t need a screen to use a projector — any light-colored, smooth wall can work in a pinch. But if you want to get the most out of your projector, a screen can make a difference. Projector screens are designed to reflect light evenly and enhance contrast, so colors look more vibrant and the picture appears sharper. With a screen, you’ll notice darker blacks and brighter colors, which can give a real boost to your movie nights or gaming sessions. So while you can absolutely enjoy a projector without one, a screen can make the experience feel a bit more like your own personal theater. Should I buy a portable or home projector? It depends on how and where you plan to use it. If you want a projector you can easily move around, bring to friends’ houses or set up indoors or outdoors easily, a portable projector is a great choice. They’re usually smaller, lightweight and often have built-in speakers and batteries, making them convenient for on-the-go use. On the other hand, if you’re looking for a more permanent setup for a home theater or living room, a home projector might be the way to go. Home projectors tend to be more powerful, with higher resolution and brightness, which gives you that crisp, cinema-quality experience. They’re ideal if you have a dedicated space and don’t mind leaving it set up in one spot.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/home-theater/best-projectors-123004354.html?src=rss
Published: 2024-11-27 20:01:28
Investigators say a Chinese ship’s crew deliberately dragged its anchor to cut undersea data cables
European investigators believe a Chinese-owned commercial ship deliberately dragged its anchor to sabotage the two undersea telecommunications cables cut in the Baltic Sea earlier this month. However, Western law enforcement and intelligence officials told The Wall Street Journal that they don’t believe the Chinese government was involved. Instead, the probe is focused on whether Russian intelligence persuaded the vessel’s captain to carry out the operation. For the past week, NATO warships from Denmark, Germany and Sweden have surrounded the 225-meter-long Yi Peng 3. The ship’s Chinese owner, Ningbo Yipeng Shipping, is reportedly cooperating with investigators. The shipper allowed the commercial vessel to be stopped in international waters. The WSJ says Swedish and German authorities are negotiating with the owner to access the ship and its crew. International maritime laws prevent NATO from forcing the vessel to sail into one of their ports. European investigators believe the Yi Peng 3 dragged its anchor for over 100 miles along the Baltic seabed from November 17 to 18. They reportedly viewed satellite and other data showing that the vessel moved significantly slower than usual while weighed down by the anchor. It severed two data cables: one connecting Lithuania and Sweden and another between Finland and Germany. After cutting the second cable, the ship reportedly zig-zagged, raised anchor, and continued. Officials said the ship’s transponder was shut down during the incident. Investigators told theWSJ that their review of the anchor and hull showed damage consistent with dragging and cutting the cable. “It’s extremely unlikely that the captain would not have noticed that his ship dropped and dragged its anchor, losing speed for hours and cutting cables on the way,” a senior European investigator told the WSJ. An analytics company specializing in international shipping told the paper that the likelihood of accidental anchor dragging “appears minimal.” The Yi Peng 3 sailed solely in Chinese waters from December 2019 to early March 2024. At that point, it suddenly began carrying Russian coal and other goods and began stopping in Russian ports. When the Danish Navy stopped it, it was carrying Russian fertilizer. In September, the US issued a warning about a heightened risk of Russian interference with undersea data cables.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/investigators-say-a-chinese-ships-crew-deliberately-dragged-its-anchor-to-cut-undersea-data-cables-195052047.html?src=rss
Published: 2024-11-27 19:50:52
Starter Packs are the latest Bluesky feature that Threads is going to shamelessly adopt
Threads is readying a feature inspired by Bluesky’s Starter Packs, according to reporting by TechCrunch and others. Chris Messina, who invented the hashtag, posted a screenshot of the tool to the social media app. He also says you can see an early version of the tool yourself by pasting "installedbarcelona://recommended_follow_lists" into Safari on iOS if you have the latest Threads app. We gave this a shot and, lo and behold, it worked. Meta/Threads For those who have yet to wander over to Bluesky, Starter Packs are curated lists of people to follow that help newcomers get started on the app. These packs can be built in a number of different ways. Engadget has one with many of its writers and editors, myself included. Come for the promise of tech news, but stay for random photos of my cats. The version likely coming to Threads looks to work in a similar way. The lists of users are “handpicked by people on Threads” and can be about pretty much anything. Messina showed off a list called “NBA Threads," as seen above. The feature has become so popular on Bluesky that there’s even a searchable database, complete with over 37,000 of these bundles of humans. The packs can also be shared directly in feeds, though we don’t know if Threads will allow that. Bluesky Bluesky has responded to this move with snark, writing on Threads that “if this app is going to keep copying our features, you might as well just join Bluesky.” For those who have been paying attention, Threads has been “paying homage” to all kinds of pre-existing Bluesky features in recent days and months. The platform recently rolled out custom feeds and the ability to change the default feed to people you follow. This is like Sega and Nintendo all over again, only with pithy messages instead of genre-defining gaming classics. Why is Threads so eager to mimic some of Bluesky’s most popular features? Well, the latter has seen tremendous growth spikes over the last couple of months, recently hitting 20 million users. Folks are fleeing the sinking ship that is X in droves and looking for a replacement app. Threads wants to be the one. Bluesky also wants to be the one. You know the drill. Threads may be acting like the underdog here by adopting some of Bluesky’s features, but it actually has a massive head start. The platform recently announced that it had over 35 million signups in November alone.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/starter-packs-are-the-latest-bluesky-feature-that-threads-is-going-to-shamelessly-adopt-193159548.html?src=rss
Published: 2024-11-27 19:32:00
How to watch the 2024 Black Friday NFL game
(David Eulitt/Getty Images)David Eulitt via Getty Images Maybe you're a huge football fan, maybe you're someone who wants to kick up your feet on the couch and enjoy something on in the background while you scroll for Black Friday deals on your phone and recover from Thanksgiving. Either way, we (and the Las Vegas Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs) have got you covered. This Friday, the Chiefs (10-1) host the Raiders (2-9) in a game that the home team is unsurprisingly favored to win. But last holiday season the two teams faced off on Christmas just for the Raiders to win in a shocking upset — proof that anything could happen on Friday afternoon. And if that's not enough drama for you, odds are Taylor Swift may show up to support Travis Kelce. Are you ready to watch yet? The game kicks off on Friday, November 29 at 3PM ET (12PM PT) inside Allegiant Stadium. Here's what you need to know before tuning in. Stream Black Friday football on Amazon Prime Video Black Friday football game time The Raiders vs. Chiefs Black Friday game kicks off at 3PM ET on Amazon Prime Video and locally on KSHB-TV 41 (Kansas City market). You can tune into pregame coverage starting at 1:30PM ET. How to watch the Las Vegas Raiders vs. Kansas City Chiefs game Stream Black Friday football on Amazon Prime Video Unlike the NFL's usual Sunday slate, which airs across several channels and live streaming platforms, this year's Black Friday football game will stream nationally only on Amazon Prime Video (which is also the exclusive home for the NFL's regular season Thursday night games). Game coverage will include play-by-play by Al Michaels, Color Analysis by Kirk Herbstreit and sideline reporting from Kaylee Hartung. Amazon Prime Video is included in a standard Amazon Prime subscription ($15 per month or $139 per year), but you can also subscribe directly to the video streaming platform for $9 per month. Amazon Prime offers a 30-day free trial, so you could tune into Friday’s game totally free. How to watch the Raiders vs. Chiefs game locally For out-of-market viewers, the Black Friday game airs on Amazon Prime Video. But for those in the Kansas City market, the game will air on KSHB-TV 41. For Las Vegas viewers the channel is still TBA. Are there any Black Friday deals tied to the game? Last year was the debut of a Black Friday NFL game, and Amazon used the occasion to proffer a handful of deals to the captive audience. We expect the same for this year, but the vast majority of Amazon's Black Friday deals are already up and running, including the usual bevy of Black Friday discounts on Amazon devices, including Kindle readers, Ring doorbells, Fire tablets and Echo smart displays. There's no need to wait for Friday. NFL Thanksgiving week schedule This game is squarely in the middle of the NFL's holiday weekend schedule. If you want to catch all of the action, the games start on Thanksgiving day proper and finish up on Monday night with the Browns taking on the Broncos. All times Eastern Thursday, Nov. 28 Chicago Bears vs. Detroit Lions: 12:30PM (CBS) New York Giants vs. Dallas Cowboys: 4:30PM (FOX) Miami Dolphins vs. Green Bay Packers: 8:20PM (NBC, Peacock) Friday, Nov. 29 Las Vegas Raiders vs. Kansas City Chiefs: 3:00PM (Prime Video) Sunday, Dec. 1 Los Angeles Chargers vs. Atlanta Falcons: 1PM (CBS) Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Cincinnati Bengals: 1PM (CBS) Arizona Cardinals vs. Minnesota Vikings: 1PM (FOX) Indianapolis Colts vs. New England Patriots: 1PM (CBS) Seattle Seahawks vs. New York Jets: 1PM (FOX) Tennessee Titans vs. Washington Commanders: 1PM (CBS) Houston Texans vs. Jacksonville Jaguars: 1PM (FOX) Los Angeles Rams vs. New Orleans Saints: 4:05PM (FOX) Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Carolina Panthers: 4:05PM (FOX) Philadelphia Eagles vs. Baltimore Ravens: 4:25PM (CBS) San Francisco 49ers vs. Buffalo Bills: 8:20PM (NBC, Peacock) Monday, Dec. 2 Cleveland Browns vs. Denver Broncos: 8:15PM (ABC, ESPN+) This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/how-to-watch-the-2024-black-friday-nfl-game-192547550.html?src=rss
Published: 2024-11-27 19:25:47
Bluesky has a verification problem
Bluesky is bigger than ever. But as the upstart social media service surges, the platform is facing some growing pains. Among them: The influx of new users has opened up new opportunities for scammers and impersonators hoping to capitalize on the attention — and Bluesky’s lack of a conventional verification system. A recent analysis by Alexios Mantzarlis, director of the Security Trust and Safety Initiative at Cornell Tech found that 44 percent of the top 100 most-followed accounts on Bluesky had at least one “doppelganger,” with most looking like “cheap knock-offs of the bigger account, down to the same bio and profile picture,” Mantzarlis wrote in his newsletter Faked Up. Unlike many of its counterparts, which offer checkmarks and official badges to government officials, celebrities and other high profile accounts, Bluesky has a more hands-off approach to verification. Instead of proactively verifying notable accounts itself, the company encourages users to use a custom domain name as their handle in order to “self-verify.” For example, my employer Engadget currently has the Bluesky handle engadget.bsky.social. But if we wanted to “verify” our account, we could opt to change it to Engadget.com. Some media organizations, like The New York Times, Bloomberg and The Onion have done this for their official accounts. Individuals are also able to verify by using a personal website. But, the process is more complicated than simply changing your handle. It also requires entities to add a string of text to the DNS record associated with their domain. While in some ways it’s a clever solution to verification — only the actual owner of a website would be able to access the DNS record for a domain — it also has a number of drawbacks. It’s a manual process that’s not readily accessible to everyone who might wish to be verified. (Bluesky does sell custom domains for users who don’t already have one.) Verification is even more complex for those wishing to verify multiple accounts associated with the same domain, which may explain why some outlets, like The New York Times and NPR have custom handles, but don’t extend that verification to their reporters on Bluesky. Even Bluesky’s own tutorial suggests organizations seek assistance from their IT departments. There are other issues. Once you change your handle to match a domain you own, your old alias (engadget.bksy.social, for instance) becomes available again. So you’ll either need to set up a new account to “squat” on your old handle, or risk an impersonator scooping it up. And even if you add a custom domain, it doesn’t offer foolproof protection against impersonation. A dedicated scammer could use a lookalike domain and “verify” an imposter account. Both accounts belong to AOC, but only the top one is "verified" under Bluesky's current system. Screenshot via Bluesky To make things more confusing, Bluesky itself gives no indication, other than the handle name, that an account has been “verified.” Verified accounts don’t have a visual indicator — like a check or a badge — that differentiates them from unverified ones, To combat this, some Bluesky users are coming up with their own makeshift workarounds. Hunter Walker, an investigative reporter for Talking Points Memo and early Bluesky user, has been proactively verifying journalists, celebrities and other high-profile accounts himself. So far, he’s verified more than 330 people, including New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Flavor Flav, Mark Cuban and Barbra Streisand. “I have a pretty high standard for journalism and reporting, and everything I say, I like to triple check the sources,” Walker tells Engadget. “I like to make sure it's confirmed. And it became apparent to me, participating in Bluesky, that on a basic level, nothing was confirmed.” Walker estimates he’s spent about 16 hours over the last couple weeks verifying accounts. He has different methods depending on the user, but it often involves communicating with someone from another account officially linked to them, like a company email address. For celebrities, their representatives are often able to confirm their official Bluesky handles. “I’ve caught so many scammers and imposters, and it's not always who you would expect,” Walker says. “Regular journalists sometimes have three or four imposters.” He says he’s been inundated with requests for his unofficial verification, and notes that a number of people he’s verified also use a custom domain. “They want something else … because a domain is not verification of identity.” Walker maintains “starter packs” of journalists and other prominent accounts he’s verified. Recently, he took it a step further, working with another user to create a custom labeling service that will append different emojis to accounts he’s verified to make his “verification” more prominent. Users who subscribe to the service will see a 😎 next to celebrities and public figures, and a 🌐 next to journalists. The labeling service that uses emojis to show accounts verified by Walker.Screenshot via Bluesky While these kinds of efforts can act as a stopgap, Walker won’t be able to verify every notable account on Bluesky himself. He’s suggested that other communities, like university researchers, could undertake a similar ad hoc verification effort. But, without help from Bluesky or a third-party identity service, he expects impersonation to remain an issue. And widespread impersonation can often lead to bigger problems for a platform like Bluesky. “Sloppy verification is an early signal of broader deception and catnip for organized disinformation actors,” Cornell Tech’s Mantzarlis wrote, noting that Vice President Kamala Harris “at one point had 20 impersonator accounts” on Bluesky even though she’s never had an official presence on the platform. On its part, Bluesky has acknowledged that impersonation is an issue. In an update this week, the company said it had seen “a predictable uptick in harmful content” that coincided with its recent growth. In a statement to Engadget, Bluesky spokesperson Emily Liu said the company had “quadrupled” its moderation team, which would help ensure reports of impersonation are handled more quickly. Liu also said that Bluesky was working on “easier visual signals we could use for verification so it's a better user experience,” though it’s not yet clear what form that might take. But Bluesky, which currently has just 20 full-time employees, seems reluctant to consider other approaches to verification outside of custom domains. “We've been working behind the scenes with official organizations and high-profile individuals like celebrities and elected officials to get their accounts verified on Bluesky with their website,” Liu said. “With domains as verification, we want to put the tools of verification in each org's hands, instead of making Bluesky the company the sole arbiter of who deserves to be verified on the network.” Bluesky’s hesitation to play the role of verifier is in many ways understandable. Verification has a long and messy history on other platforms. On Twitter, a symbol that was originally created to fight impersonators quickly morphed into a sometimes divisive status symbol. On Instagram, verification has often been exploited by scammers. Now, both companies allow users to buy blue checkmarks, though both platforms also proactively verify certain types of accounts, like those belonging to government officials. Bluesky CEO Jay Graber, however, has signaled that she’s potentially open to alternate approaches to verification. In a livestream on Twitch this week, she said the company “might at some point” become a “verification provider.” TechCrunch, which reported the remarks, said that her comments suggested a future system in which there are multiple “providers” of verification. Graber added that she’s “not sure when” such a scenario would play out. Walker, who repeated several times his firm belief that “Bluesky has the juice,” hopes that his verification project might be able to nudge Bluesky to take a different approach. “I'm really hoping that people pay attention to the question of trust and the question of identity. The cool thing about the open source nature of it all, is we have a chance to build things on this and make it how we want it.”This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/bluesky-has-a-verification-problem-190047733.html?src=rss
Published: 2024-11-27 19:00:47
The latest Switch Online Expansion Pack update includes three classic Sega Genesis games
It’s been more than a hot minute since we’ve seen some new Sega Genesis classics in the Nintendo Switch online library, but we’re finally getting some today. The Switch Online Expansion Pack brings the frantic platformer VectorMan, the run-n-gunner Wolf of the Battlefield: MERCS and the totally awesome ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron to the Switch’s classic games library. VectorMan from BlueSky Software is a 2D platformer with impressive graphics for its time that often gets overlooked in the long hallway of the Sega Genesis’ legacy. The protagonist is a robot made of floating left on a resource ravaged Earth to clean up the mess humanity made when one of the supervisor robots named WarHead connects to a nuclear weapon and holds the planet hostage. VectorMan must blast his way through waves of enemies to free the Earth from WarHead’s clutches. So just think of VectorMan as Wall-E with a deathwish. The game has a pretty notorious degree of difficulty, but the slick graphics and fast pace of the gameplay makes VectorMan an underrated gem. Wolf of the Battlefield: MERCS is a top-down military style shooter that started in the arcade before migrating to Sega’s Mega Drive and the Genesis in the early 90s. The concept is simple: run across the screen and shoot everything that moves before it shoots you. MERCS also has a huge arsenal of special weapons and some really cool boss battles that pit your puny mercenaries against a big ol’ battleship and even a harrier jet. If you don’t know the names ToeJam & Earl, then welcome to one of the greatest slices of joy from gaming’s history. The most 90s video game duo ever got the sequel treatment with Panic on Funkotron in 1993. The second ToeJam & Earl title took its titular alien heroes away from the unique isometric map that made the first game so memorable to a more traditional 2D platform game but they are just as vibrant, goofy and animated in their second outing. This is the first Sega Genesis update for the Nintendo Switch in over a year. The previous Genesis pack was released in June of 2023 and came with four games including Ghouls ‘n Ghosts, The Revenge of Shinobi, Landstalker and Crusader of Centy.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/the-latest-switch-online-expansion-pack-update-includes-three-classic-sega-genesis-games-184621721.html?src=rss
Published: 2024-11-27 18:46:21
The 16 best Black Friday deals on robot vacuums from iRobot, Shark, Dyson and others
Robot vacuums can help automate a chore you may loathe doing yourself. And even if you don’t mind vacuuming regularly, it’s undeniable that it takes time out of your day that you could be using for other things. The Black Friday and Cyber Monday time period is a great time to look for one of these smart home gadgets because you can often find them for hundreds of dollars off their usual prices — this year is no different. We’re seeing steep discounts on many of our favorite robot vacuum cleaners, as well as some cordless vacuums too. These are the best Black Friday vacuum deals you can get this year. Black Friday robot vacuum deals iRobot Roomba Vac robot vacuum (Q0120) for $149 (40 percent off): This entry-level robot vacuum has strong suction power with three cleaning modes and smart navigation, and you can control it and set cleaning schedules from the iRobot mobile app. iRobot Roomba Combo robot vacuum and mop (Y0140) for $159 (42 percent off): This basic robot vacuum also comes with a mop pad and a water reservoir for cleaning hard floors like wood and tile. It also works with the iRobot mobile app so you can set cleaning schedules, and it'll automatically return to its base when it needs a recharge. Shark AI Ultra robot vacuum with self-emptying base for $300 ($300 off): A version of one of our top picks, this Shark robot vacuum cleans both carpet and hard flooring well, has an easy-to-use app, a self-cleaning brushroll and a bagless self-emptying base that can hold up to 60 days worth of debris before you need to empty it. Shark PowerDetect NeverTouch robot vacuum and mop with self-emptying base for $550 ($350 off): This Shark combo machine automatically picks up and drops its mop pad when you program it to clean hard floors, plus its self-emptying base can hold up to 60 days of vacuumed debris and up to 30 days of cleaning liquid for mopping. Shark PowerDetect NeverTouch Pro robot vacuum and mop with self-emptying base for $700 ($400 off): The PowerDetect NeverTouch Pro is the most premium robot vacuum and mop that Shark sells and it has suction and mopping capabilities to match. The self-emptying base takes care of most things for you for up to 30 days, including emptying the machine's dustbin, emptying and refilling the mop reservoir and the pad-drop system that holds the mopping pad when not in use. iRobot Roomba Combo j9+ robot vacuum and mop with self-emptying base for $979 ($420 off): If you're looking to splurge, this robo vac-and mop combo machine is one of our top picks for the best robot vacuums thanks to its excellent cleaning power, good mopping capabilities, solid battery life and well-designed self-emptying base. Dyson 360 Vis Nav robot vacuum for $999 ($200 off): Yes, it's still expensive, but this is the first major discount we've seen on Dyson's only robot vacuum since it launched in the US a few months ago. It earned a spot on our list of the best robot vacuums thanks to its superior suction power that can handle all kinds of messes and pet hair, its easy-to-use app and simple setup process. Also available at Dyson. Eufy 11S Max robot vacuum for $130 ($120 off): One of our top picks for the best budget robot vacuums, the 11S Max has a slim design that lets it get under furniture better than other models, good suction power for its size and a long battery life. Just remember that this robovac doesn't have Wi-Fi connectivity, but it comes with a handy remote that lets you control it, set cleaning schedules and more. Roborock Q5 Pro robot vacuum for $140 ($110 off): Roborock's midrange vacuuming has 5500Pa of suction power, a 240-minute runtime and you can set no-go zones from within its companion app. Black Friday cordless vacuum deals Dyson V15 Detect Absolute cordless vacuum for $550 ($200 off): This is our top pick for the best cordless vacuum you can get right now thanks to its excellent suction power, relatively light weight and good battery life. This model comes with a Fluffy Optic cleaning head that illuminates the ground in front of you so you can see where the most debris lies, and the pack-up includes three additional cleaning head attachments. Dyson Gen 5 Detect cordless vacuum for $700 ($250 off): The Gen 5 Detect is another excellent Dyson machine, very similar to the V15 Detect. We like that it has a single-button start and even stronger suction power, and it's slightly newer than the V15 Detect as well. Dyson Gen 5 Outsize Absolute for $800 ($250 off): This Outsize model has 150 percent bigger bin capacity than the standard Gen 5 vacuum, making it better for those with larger homes or those who regularly have big messes to clean up. Its cleaner head is 25 percent wider as well, allowing it to cover a larger surface area in one go, and it comes with two batteries for a total of over two hours of runtime. Dyson Digital Slim cordless vacuum for $250 ($250 off): As its name suggests, this Dyson stick vacuum is 30 percent lighter than the V11, which should make it even easier to handle and maneuver while you clean. It also has a 40-minute runtime and an LCD display that shows the amount of battery life left. Tineco Pure One S11 cordless vacuum for $180 ($120 off with coupon): Our top budget pick in our best cordless vacuums guide, the One S11 provides good suction for the price and it includes Tineco's iLoop smart sensor, which auto-adjusts suction power as you clean to account for messes big and small. Tineco Pure One Station 5 cordless vacuum with self-emptying base for $300 ($160 off with coupon): One of Tineco's newest machines, the Station 5 stick vacuum cleans hard floors and carpets well, doesn't choke when it meets pet hair and includes a self-cleaning HEPA filter to maintain strong, consistent suction power. Plus, the bagless, self-emptying base cleans the machine's brush, tube, filter and dustbin after every time you use it. Tineco Pure One Station Furfree cordless vacuum with self-emptying base for $400 ($300 off): This model has a massive 3L self-emptying base that can hold up to 60 days worth of debris, and it comes with cleaning attachments that can make grooming your pets easier. Expired Black Friday deals Dyson V11 Origin for $350 (39 percent off): This stick vac comes with four cleaning heads, including Dyson's signature Motorbar and a crevice tool. The built-in LCD screen shows cleaning modes and maintenance tips, and the machine has up to 60 minutes of runtime. Check out all of the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals here. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/the-16-best-black-friday-deals-on-robot-vacuums-from-irobot-shark-dyson-and-others-161528276.html?src=rss
Published: 2024-11-27 18:33:03
The 67 best Black Friday tech deals under $50
Black Friday is a great time to snag stocking stuffers and tech accessories at a discount. Engadget has reviewed and tested hundreds of small-but-useful electronics including speakers, cables, smart plugs, cameras, battery packs and earbuds, and we put the best ones in our related buying guides. Right now, many of those picks are seeing discounts that put them comfortably (or just barely) below the $50 mark. After you grab a few as gifts, don’t forget to grab an accessory or two for yourself. There are also a few subscription deals to check out. Here are the best Black Friday tech deals under $50 we could find from retailers across the web. Black Friday tech deals under $20 Amazon Halo: The Master Chief Collection for $10 ($30 off): As part of the Xbox Black Friday sale, you can save up to 55 percent on titles (some titles are going as low as $5). A number of our top picks for the best Xbox games are included in the sale, including this Halo collection, Death Stranding: Director’s Cut, Street Fighter 6 and Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred. And if you’re looking for more deals on game titles, check out Jeff Dunn’s Black Friday gaming roundup. Amazon Echo Pop (2023) for $18 ($22 off): Amazon’s smallest Echo will fit in any room in your home, so Alexa can add things to your shopping list, set a timer, or answer questions (like “What’s a bomb cyclone?” or “Who is Penelope Cruz married to?”) from anywhere. Anker Nano Charger 30W USB-C for $13 ($7 off): This compact 30-watt wall charger is smaller than others of its wattage and can speedily juice up an iPhone or Android handset. Anker is one of Engadget’s most recommended accessory brands and this is the model we picked for our fast charger guide. Get the same deal at Anker with an auto-applied code. Anker Nano power bank with built-in USB-C connector for $16 ($4 off): It’s the size of an old-timey lipstick case but packs enough juice (and its own USB-C plug) to get a dying smartphone back in service with at least a half charge. It’s one of the winners in our guide to power banks. Also direct from Anker with an auto-applied code. Glocusent Tri-head clip-on book light for $16 ($4 off): Glocusent’s book light can stand on a desk or clip to a book and casts a wide swath of light across the widest of pages. It’s a pick in our book lovers gift guide. Beshon European travel plug adapter (two-pack) for $13 ($6 off with Prime): If you’re planning any trips abroad, take one of these, as Engadget’s Valentina Palladino recommends in our gifts for travelers guide. They come in versions made for Ireland, China and Japan, too. Elden Ring (PS4,PS5, Xbox) for $20 ($40 off): One of our favorite games is down to the best price we’ve tracked. It feels impressively handmade despite its epic scale that feels big but never superfluous. Also at Best Buy. Amazon Smart Plug for $13 ($12 off): If you rely on Alexa as your smart home assistant, this is an affordable and reliable way to control your lamps, fans and Christmas lights. It was one of the more reliable and fuss-free plugs I tested. Anker Nano II 713 Charger (45W) for $20 ($20 off): This 45-watt charger has a single USB-C port and will let you take advantage of the faster charging speeds newer devices offer (just make sure you have an equally robust cable). It’s one of the picks in our iPad accessories guide. Also at Anker with an auto-applied code. Chipolo ONE for $20 ($5 off): Our favorite Bluetooth tracker overall is loud, compact and readily tells you when you’ve left your keys (or whatever else you attach them to) behind. If you’re looking for a finding network to locate things you’ve lost out in the wild, this isn’t the one to get, but for everyday locating misplaced keys in the house, this is great. Belkin Apple AirTag secure holder for $15 ($5 off): AirTags are great, and we recommend them for iPhone users, but they have no built-in method for attaching them. This is one of the gizmos we recommend in our guide to secure the tag to your luggage and more. Also at Amazon. Elevation Lab TagVault (2 Pack) for $16 ($4 off with Prime): Another recommendation from our guide, Elevation Labs fabric mount is ideal for sticking an AirTag inside your coat, backpack or anything else you want to track. Also at Elevation Lab without Prime. PopSockets Phone Grip for $15 ($15 off): You can save 50 percent on the Pop Socket we recommend in our guide to iPhone accessories. Many other Pop Sockets are on sale directly from Pop Socket for Black Friday. J-Tech Digital Ergonomic Mouse for $18 ($13 off): The best budget ergo mouse has a vertical grip that’s a little wider than others of its ilk, which we found to be more comfortable. There are RGB lights, which can be fun. But which can also be turned off. WAVLINK USB-C hub for $13 ($13 off): The budget pick in our guide to USB-C hubs has an HDMI port, three USB connections (two type-A and one type-C) plus a generous 10-inch cable to give you more options when plugging into your laptop or tablet. Anker USB-C 240W Bio-Braided cable for $12 ($5 off): A fast charger won’t do much if the cable isn’t rated to handle the wattage. This 240W Anker cable is pulled from our list of the best iPhone accessories and will charge those devices (or any other rechargeable item with a USB-C port) as quickly as the brick and device will allow. Peak Design Packable Tote for $16 ($4 off): We recommend this handy bag in our gift guide for travelers. We like that it zips shut, is water resistant and has a padded shoulder/hand strap. Plus it packs into itself and takes up just a little more room than a deck of cards. The Best Black Friday subscription deals under $50 Max / Engadget Max subscription for $18 (6-month) ($42 off): You can get six months of Max with Ads for $2.99 monthly instead of the usual $9.99. The subscription will automatically renew at that rate each month until the end of the promo period, when it'll automatically renew for the full $10. New and returning subscribers are eligible through Max.com, Roku, Apple and other streaming ecosystems, but is only open to new subscribers via Amazon Fire TV. Paramount+ Showtime (two months) for $6 ($20 off): New and former subscribers can get two months of Paramount+ Essential (with ads, usually $8 monthly) or Paramount+ with Showtime (ad-free, usually $13 monthly) for just $3 per month. It's one of our favorite streaming services and the best place to watch as much Star Trek as you want. As with all subscriptions, remember the standard pricing will auto-renew after two months. Peacock (one year) for $20 for ($75 off): New and returning subscribers can get a full year of Peacock for just $20. It's also one of our favorite streamings services and has some excellent shows like Mrs. Davis, Poker Face and Killing It. Note this is the ad-supported tier, it is only available through Peacock's website and will auto renew after the year is up. Audible Premium Plus (3-month) for $1 ($29 off): If you don’t currently subscribe to Audible you can get three months of the audiobook service's Premium Plus plan for $1. The service is usually $15 per month after a 30-day free trial. Premium Plus gives you access to the Audible Plus library, and lets you keep one title from a curated selection of audiobooks each month. Amazon Kindle Unlimited for $0 for one month ($12 off): Amazon's ebook subscription service gives you access to a selected catalog of thousands titles for unlimited reading as well as some Audible audiobooks and magazines. Prime members can get two months for only $5. Headspace annual plan for $35 ($35 off): Our top pick for the best meditation app has tons of courses that address specific anxieties and worries, a good in-app search engine that makes it easy to find the right meditation you need, and additional yoga routines, podcasts and music sessions to try out. Disney+ Hulu bundle (one-year) for $36 ($96 off): This Disney+ Black Friday deal gets you the ad-supported tiers of both Disney+ and Hulu (known as the Duo Basic bundle) for only $3 per month for one year. It's one of the best streaming deals of the seasons since it gives you the ability to catch up on all those classic Disney holiday movies, and the thousands of episodes of TV that Hulu has. Black Friday tech deals under $30 Photo by Amy Skorheim / Engadget Amazon Echo Dot (5th gen) for $23 ($27 off): The Dot is Amazon’s most popular Echo speaker, delivering Alexa’s helpful assistance in a softball-sized package that puts out surprisingly decent sound. We named it the best smart speaker under $50. It also has an internal sensor that can tell you the temp in the room and trigger connected thermostat functions. You can also get it with a free smart bulb for the same price. Amazon Echo Dot Kids for $28 ($32 off): The kids version is basically the same smart speaker but comes in a cute dragon or own skin and includes a year’s subscription to Amazon Kids+. Samsung Galaxy SmartTag2 for $21 ($9 off): If you have a Samsung smartphone, this is the tracker we recommend. The finding network isn’t as vast as Apple’s, but in our tests, the accuracy was good and the physical design is one of the best of its kind. Roku Streaming Stick 4K for $29 ($21 off): On our list of the best streaming devices we named the Roku Streaming Stick 4K the best pick for those wanting an ocean of free and live content. By combining Roku’s own free channels with content from other FAST apps this simple stick turns any screen into a portal to a near-infinite amount of movies and shows that you won’t pay a dime for. Also at Target and direct from Roku for $1 more. Anker Soundcore 2 Portable Bluetooth Speaker for $28 ($12 off): Anker’s Soundcore brand proves the accessory brand can make some excellent electronics and we named a number of Soundcore audio devices to our buying guides. This is one of the smaller and more affordable models from Anker and it’s currently back to one of its lowest prices yet. Anker Nano 3-in-1 10K portable charger for $30 ($15 off): A top pick in our best power banks guide, this 10K brick has a built-in USB-C cable so you don't need to remember to bring one with you, plus it has an extra USB-C port for charging other devices. Also at Anker within an auto-applied code. HyperX Cloud Stinger 2 gaming headset for $30 ($20 off): Though we ultimately recommend getting an external mic along with your wired headphones if you need to chat while playing, the Cloud Stinger 2 is our pick for a budget gaming headset. Also at Best Buy and direct from Hyper. Photo by Amy Skorheim / Engadget Kasa Smart Plug Mini 15A (4-pack) for $30 ($20 off): Our favorite smart plug overall connects to all the major smart home platforms, including from Apple, Google and Amazon. It’s perfectly simple to set up, stays connected and makes it easy to make your lights do what you want them to. Also at Amazon. TP-Link AC1200 Wi-Fi Extender (RE315) for $23 ($27 off): This is our pick for the best budget Wi-Fi extender. It's easy to set up and offers good performance for the price. Just keep in mind it has smaller (1,500 square-foot) coverage and no support for Wi-Fi 6e. EarFun Free 2S wireless earbuds for $25 ($15 off): These don’t sound as sharp as other budget earbuds we recommend and there’s no noise cancellation or transparency mode, but if you need a pair of earbuds under $50 (or under $30 now) these are decently comfortable with a sound that’s a bit richer than others in its price range. Amazon Echo Buds for $25 ($25 off): Our favorite budget earbuds with an open ear design are made by Amazon. They don’t go all the way in your ear so you’ll hear more of what’s going on around you. The sound is decently separated, though we recommend tweaking the EQ in the Alexa app to bring down the treble a touch. Anker USB-C Hub 341 for $25 ($10 off): Anker’s seven-port hub lets you use a range of extras with your tablet, which is why we named it one of the best accessories for an iPad. In addition to extra USB connections, you also get a microSD and standard SD card slots. Logitech Signature M650 wireless mouse for $30 ($5 off): This portable mouse is great for anyone who changes locations when they work because it connects quickly and easily slips in a pack. It’s one of the gifts we recommend in our stocking stuffer guide. Also at Staples and direct from Logitech. Baseus 30W Magnetic Power Bank for $25 ($20 off): An honorable mention in our battery guide, this small Baseus bank delivers a fast charge either wirelessly for MagSafe compatible iPhones or via the attached USB-C cable. Ransom Notes board game for $28 ($7 off): Engadget’s Karissa Bell recommends this party board game in our gift guide thanks to its hilarity-inspiring appeal. It forces players to communicate complex concepts using a given number of word magnet tiles. Mysterium Board Game for $30 ($25 off): Our own Valentina Palladino recommends this game to anyone who loves a good mystery. It takes Clue to the next level and is best played with friends and family on a dark and stormy night. Settlers of Catan board game for $26 ($18 off): It's hard to find anyone into board games who hasn't yet played Catan, but this trading and settling game is a classic for a reason. Get it and prepare for some lively sheep bartering. Black Friday tech deals under $40 Engadget Xbox Wireless Controller for $40 ($20 off): We’ve seen this deal before, but it’s a decent discount on a necessary accessory. The brighter colors are $45, but if you're happy with the standard-issue black or white, you'll save the most. Also at Best Buy and Target. Anker 525 charging station for $36 ($30 off): This is one of the handy items that makes working from home easier, as we recommend in our WFH gift guide. It offers four USB ports up front (both Type-A and Type-C) and three extra AC plugs in the back. Blink Mini 2 (two-pack) for $35 ($35 off): The newest Blink Mini wired security camera came out earlier this year and it supports 1080p video recordings, a wider field of view than the previous model and improved low-light performance. It may be wired, but you can use it outside with the $10 weather-resistant adapter. JBL Go 4 for $40 ($10 off): JBL’s smallest portable speaker has up to seven hours of battery life on a charge, has an IP67 waterproof rating and has a tiny built-in carry strap so you can bring it wherever you go. Also at JBL and Best Buy. Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max for $33 ($27 off): Amazon's most powerful dongle supports 4K streaming with Dolby Vision, Wi-Fi 6E and live picture-in-picture mode so you can see security camera feeds directly on your TV as you're watching a show or movie. In addition to being a solid streamer, it also makes a good retro gaming device. Anker 633 Magnetic Battery for $40 ($15 off): Choose from a MagSafe option or the 20W Power Delivery port via a USB-C cable (which charges things faster). The handy kickstand means you can look at your phone while it charges and that port lets you charge non-MagSafe devices too. Blink Outdoor 4 (2023) $38 ($52 off): Amazon’s latest outdoor Blink camera works well (and only) with Alexa, letting you check on your surroundings using the app or a compatible display (like an Echo Show or a Fire TV. OtterBox Performance Fast Charge Power Bank 20,000 mAh for $32 ($23 off): This is the larger-capacity model of the mid-range battery we recommend in our guide to power banks. Not only does it look cool, it’s durable and charges up a phone quickly through either the USB-C or USB-A port. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth for $40 ($30 off): Engadget’s Mat Smith gave this title a favorable review earlier this year. It helps if you’ve played its predecessor and it’s absolutely stuffed with things to do. This is a new low for the PS5 exclusive. Govee Smart LED Light Bars for $35 ($15 off): We like Govee’s playful smart lights and recommend the brand in our guide to smart bulbs. These light bars made the list in our stocking stuffer gift guide thanks to their versatility (they can stand up, lay flat or be mounted) and there’s no end to the multiple colors and sequences you can program. Razer Basilisk V3 ergonomic gaming mouse for $40 ($30 off): This is the gaming option in our guide to the best ergonomic mice. It’s super light and glides across multiple surfaces. The buttons are customizable and the thumb rest is comfortable. Also at Amazon. UGREEN Revodok Pro 109 USB-C hub for $38 ($16 off): The top pick in our buying guide to USB-C hubs has a good array of ports, the ability to support two 4K monitors, and a nice long host cable so you can easily arrange it on your desk. Moft Tripod iPhone Wallet for $40 ($10 off with Prime): Moft's origami-inspired accessories tend to be clever and surprisingly useful. This one is no different, combining a single-card wallet with a dual-height stand. I was impressed with the sturdiness of the stand in such a thin package. If you don't need to carry a single card, the wallet-less version is $32 right now. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom for $40 ($30 off): Nintendo announced its Black Friday deals early, but they didn’t go live until November 25. The big callout here is Tears of the Kingdom. We found the game to be an absolute delight as it builds on all of the concepts and story introduced in Breath of the Wild. Black Friday tech deals under $50 Amazon JBL Clip 5 for $49.95 ($30 off): JBL makes a good number of the winners in our guide to the best Bluetooth speakers. We didn’t review this one formally for our guide, but it’s one of the more affordable models the brand makes and the clip plus dunkable water resistance makes it easy to bring JBL’s signature dynamic range just about anywhere. Also at Walmart and direct from JBL. Ring pan and tilt security camera for $50 ($30 off): This security camera joined the Ring lineup only a few months ago, and this is the best price we've seen on it. It's part of a larger Ring sale that discounts home security gear by up to 50 percent (though many of those deals hit above the $50 mark). Amazon Echo Show 5 (2023) for $45 ($45 off): The newest Echo Show 5 made our list of the best smart displays because it doubles as a “stellar alarm clock” with the auto-dimming screen, tap-to-snooze feature and a sunrise alarm. Plus the tiny, five-inch screen is perfect for a nightstand. Also, oddly, at Best Buy. Amazon Echo Spot (2024) $45 ($35 off): The mini display just shows simple data like the time, weather or song that’s playing while the other half of the circle plays music. It’s an updated version of a model Amazon discontinued a couple of years ago and now it’s back. Elecom Nestout power bank 15,000mAh for $48 ($12 off): For outdoor charging, this is one of the few portable batteries that can handle a dunk in water (as long as you’ve remembered to screw on the port covers). We recommend it in our guide and particularly like the handy accessories like a tripod stand and light that you can buy to go on it. Also at Nestout for $1 more. 8BitDo Ultimate Bluetooth Controller for $48 at Amazon ($12 off, Prime only): Engadget’s Jeff Dunn raved about this wireless gamepad for Switch and PC, calling it comfortable with durable Hall effect joysticks that should avoid the “drift” sensation that plagues many modern controllers. Also at Best Buy. Soundcore by Anker Space A40 wireless earbuds for $45 ($35 off): Our top budget wireless earbuds are just $5 shy of their all time low. They have outstanding active noise cancellation for the price and offer a warm and pleasant default sound. Ultimate Ears Mini Roll for $50 ($30 off): This less-than-a-pound sound maker came out at the same time as the Everboom and is the smallest speaker in UE’s lineup. It’s IP67 rated to be dust- and waterproof and can crank out 85 decibels of volume — impressive for something so small. Also at Amazon and B&H Photo. Tribit StormBox Micro 2 for $42 ($38 off with coupon): This is the smallest speaker in our guide and it can go with you anywhere with the built-in strap. It pumps out impressive volume for its size and can go for 12 hours on a charge. The audio isn’t the highest fidelity, but this is more about bringing the vibes than emitting flawless musical clarity. Also directly from Tribit (see price in cart). Anker PowerConf C200 2K webcam for $48 ($12 off): The budget pick in our buying guide to webcams is back down to a low it’s hit a few times before. We like the excellent video clarity and easy set up and customization. Also at Anker with a coupon code. Thermacell Mosquito Repeller for $43 ($8 off): The mosquitos may be gone for the winter, but we all know they'll be back next year. This is one of the few mosquito-repelling products we recommend, so grab one now for a less irritating summer next year. Lego Star Wars: A New Hope Boarding The Tantive IV for $44 (20 percent off): This set recreates the scene in which Darth Vader and his Stormtroopers battled the Rebels, and it includes seven Star Wars minifigures. Also at Target. Check out all of the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/the-67-best-black-friday-tech-deals-under-50-164632067.html?src=rss
Published: 2024-11-27 18:31:41
The best Amazon Black Friday deals for 2024: Sales on Kindles, Echo speakers, Ring doorbells and more
Aside from Amazon Prime Day, Black Friday is the best time of year to pick up an Echo speaker, a Fire tablet or a Kindle ereader from Amazon. While the online retailer typically saves all of the best discounts on its devices for the members-only sale events, it’s a safe bet that those deals will come back around for Black Friday. This year is no different: we’re seeing record-low prices (or close to them) on all of Amazon’s gadgets. These are the best deals you can get on Amazon devices for Black Friday 2024. Kindle Paperwhite (2024) for $130 ($30 off): The latest version of the Paperwhite has speedier performance, a higher-contrast screen, a built-in warm light and 12 weeks of battery life. Kindle (2024) for $85 ($25 off): The 2024 base Kindle is lighter than ever before, and it has a 6-inch, glare-free screen with an adjustable front light, 16GB of storage, speedier performance and six weeks of battery life. Echo for $55 ($45 off): We consider this to be the best smart speaker for $100 or less at the moment thanks to its loud audio with good bass quality, the ability to pair two together for stereo sound and Alexa’s utility. Echo Dot for $23 ($27 off): This is one of the best smart speakers you can get right now thanks to its compact design, physical button controls that compliment voice commands and its solid sound quality for its size. Echo Pop for $18 ($22 off): One of Amazon’s newest smart devices, the Pop sports a 1.95-inch front-facing speaker, a physical mic mute switch for extra privacy and eero compatibility. Amazon Echo Spot for $45 ($35 off): This recently revived smart display is billed as a smart alarm clock, and it features a customizable screen, big sound for its size and all the perks for Alexa voice commands. You can also grab it bundled with a free TP-Link smart light bulb. Echo Show 8 for $80 ($70 off): This is our current top pick for the best smart display with Amazon’s Alexa thanks in part to its 8-inch touchscreen, 13MP camera that supports auto-framing for better video chats and its built-in Zigbee smart home hub. Echo Show 5 for $45 ($45 off): This is one of our favorite smart displays thanks to its compact design, ambient light sensor and sunrise alarm feature, all of which make it an excellent smart alarm clock. Amazon improved the speaker quality on this latest model, which gives sound deeper bass and clearer vocals. Echo Buds for $25 ($25 off): These are one of our top picks for the best budget wireless earbuds you can get right now thanks to their comfortable design, pocket-friendly case, automatic wear detection, multi-device connectivity and, of course, built-in Alexa voice controls. Echo Dot Kids for $28 ($32 off): The kids version of the Echo Dot uses the same basic hardware, but comes with a cute dragon or owl cover, plus parental controls and a year’s subscription to Amazon Kids+ that can play kid-friendly audiobooks and more. Ring pan and tilt security camera for $50 ($30 off): This security camera joined the Ring lineup only a few months ago, and this is the best price we've seen on it. It's part of a larger Ring sale that discounts home security gear by up to 50 percent. Ring Video Doorbell (2024) for $60 ($40 off): This entry-level security doorbell records 1080p video, supports motion detection and privacy zones and has a built-in, rechargable battery and can be hardwired to your doorbell wiring. Blink Mini 2 (two-pack) for $35 ($35 off): The newest Blink Mini wired security camera came out earlier this year and it supports 1080p video recordings, a wider field of view than the previous model and improved low-light performance. It may be wired, but you can use it outside if you wish provided you have the separate $10 weather-resistant adapter. Blink Outdoor 4 + Blink Mini 2 bundle for $60 ($80 off): It's almost a guarantee that Blink security systems will be on sale for Black Friday and this time is no different. This bundle is 64 percent off, and there are a bunch of other bundles on sale that include cameras, video doorbells and more. Fire TV Stick streamer for $18 ($22 off): This dongle ups the ante on the TV Stick Lite by adding support for Dolby Atmos audio, plus it comes with the regular version of the Alexa Voice Remote. It also supports Wi-Fi 5 and comes with 8GB of internal storage. Fire TV Stick 4K streamer for $22 ($28 off): This mode is the cheapest Fire TV Stick you can get to stream 4K content, plus it has support for Wi-Fi 6 and Dolby Vision and Atmos. With its live picture-in-picture feature, you can view security camera feeds right on your TV while you’re watching your favorite show or movie. Fire TV Stick 4K Max streamer for $33 ($27 off): In addition to 4K HDR streaming with Dolby Vision and Atmos support, the 4K Max dongle includes Wi-Fi 6E connectivity, 16GB of built-in storage and live picture-in-picture capabilities. Fire TV Cube set-top box for $100 ($40 off): This model will provide the best performance of any Fire TV streaming device, and it supports 4K HDR content, Dolby Vision and Atmos and an enhanced version of the Alexa Voice Remote. Along with live picture-in-picture view and the Fire TV ambient experience, you can also hardware other devices to the Fire TV Cube including a cable box or a game console. Fire HD 8 tablet for $55 ($45 off): Amazon just released this new version of the HD 8 tablet, which includes more RAM, a better camera and new AI features not found on the previous model. Fire HD 10 tablet for $75 ($65 off): This slab has a 10-inch FHD touchscreen, improved camera for video calls, 13 hours of battery life and it works with a stylus (although you have to buy that separately). If you’re looking for a cheap tablet that doesn’t compromise too many of the basics, this is a good option. Fire Max 11 tablet for $140 ($90 off): Amazon’s most powerful tablet sports an 11-inch 2,000 x 1,200 touchscreen, an octa-core processor, up to 128GB of storage and 14 hours of battery life. It also works with a number of optional accessories, including a stylus and keyboard case. Fire HD 10 Kids tablet for $110 ($80 off): Designed for kids aged three to seven, this tablet comes with full parental controls plus one year of Amazon Kids+ for free with the tablet purchase. It also has a 10-inch FHD touchscreen, an octa-core processor and 13 hours of battery life, plus it comes with a two-year warranty and a protective case. Fire HD 10 Kids Pro tablet for $110 ($80 off): This model is designed for kids aged six to 12 and comes with a slimmer protective case, a two-year warranty and one year of access to Amazon Kids+. Otherwise, you get a very similar experience here that you would with the non-Pro version, including parental controls, a 10-inch touchscreen, solid performance and a 13-hour battery life. Check out all of the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals here. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/the-best-amazon-black-friday-deals-for-2024-sales-on-kindles-echo-speakers-ring-doorbells-and-more-130003913.html?src=rss
Published: 2024-11-27 18:27:41
Google Pixel Black Friday deals include the Pixel 8a for an all-time low price
Some smartphones (looking at you, iPhone) are often excluded from the Black Friday deal fun, but that’s not the case for all of our favorite handsets. If you’re on the hunt for a solid smartphone that won’t break the bank, you can’t get much better than the Google Pixel 8a — and now you can pick it up at a steep discount. The Pixel 8a has dropped to $399 for Black Friday, or $100 off its usual price. This price is for a configuration with 128GB of storage, but 256GB models are also $100 off at $459. The Pixel 8a is our pick for the best midrange smartphone overall. We gave it a score of 90 in our review. Thanks to Google's inclusion of the Tensor G3 chip, the Pixel 8a supports many of the same AI features that you'll find on flagship Pixel devices. We feel that the cameras are excellent, while that 6.1-inch 120Hz OLED display sure looks pretty. The Pixel 8a has great battery life too. It lasted for 20 hours and 29 minutes in our video rundown test, actually beating out the Pixel 8 by 13 minutes. On the downside, wireless charging is pretty slow as it maxes out at 7.5W. The bezels are a little thicker than you might like too, but otherwise the design is fairly slick. Another plus point is that the Pixel 8a is IP67-rated for dust and water resistance, so it should be somewhat durable. Check out all of the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/google-pixel-black-friday-deals-include-the-pixel-8a-for-an-all-time-low-price-180827166.html?src=rss
Published: 2024-11-27 18:16:46
December's PS Plus monthly games include It Takes Two and Temtem
Sony has revealed some games that PlayStation Plus members can claim in December, to help keep them busy throughout the long winter. This is a pretty good drop, and one pick is a bona-fide GOTY-winner. First up, the co-op delight It Takes Two. We enjoyed this split-screen co-op adventure, even if we found the story to be a bit on the cheesy side. Simply put, the game is a strictly two-player affair and each person controls one half of a married couple as they navigate areas inspired by Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and other movies in which people shrink down for some reason. It was a legitimate hit upon release back in 2021, eventually winning Game of the Year at The Game Awards. Temtem is monster-taming RPG, also known as a Pokémon clone. Pikachu-heads will find plenty to like here, including familiar turn-based battles and a whole bunch of cute (and deadly) creatures to collect. This game has a more robust online feature set than any Pokémon title, however, with an open world filled with actual people and their fighting pets. Players can chat and challenge these other tamers to battles. The entire game can also be played cooperatively with a friend. Finally, there’s Aliens: Dark Descent, a real-time strategy game in which players command a squad of marines as they try to stop a Xenomorph outbreak. As indicated by the title, it’s set in the universe of the Alien franchise, complete with sinister agents of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation. The large open levels are fun to navigate and the vibes are stellar. Incidentally, this game also hit Xbox Game Pass today. All three games will be available to PlayStation Plus members on December 3 until January 6. Also, PlayStation Plus members only have until December 2 to add last month’s games, which included Hot Wheels Unleashed 2, Ghostwire: Tokyo and Death Note Killer.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/decembers-ps-plus-monthly-games-include-it-takes-two-and-temtem-181039449.html?src=rss
Published: 2024-11-27 18:10:39
Beats Solo 4 headphones are 50 percent off for Black Friday
Black Friday deals are in full swing and you can save big on Beats headphones this year. One of the best discounts we’re seeing is on the Solo 4 wireless headphones, which are a whopping 50 percent off and down to $100. That’s a record low, and the discount applies to all color options. The Beats Solo 4 headphones came out in April and received a 79 in our review. They're a solid item, especially for 50 percent off, and offer features like over 50 hours of battery life. They also have solid sound quality and clarity, especially with Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos. However, they aren't the most comfortable of headphones on the market (especially for big heads) and don't have automatic pausing. The overall sale includes the Beats Pill, a portable bluetooth speaker, that's also down to $100, from $150 — a 33 percent discount. The Pill can wirelessly connect to your Android or Apple device or to a laptop through a USB-C cable. It also holds 24 hours of battery and can charge your phone and other devices through that USB-C cable. Plus, it has an IP67 dust and water resistance rating so it's shouldn't have issues if you use it outside. Check out all of the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/beats-solo-4-headphones-are-50-percent-off-for-black-friday-150722820.html?src=rss
Published: 2024-11-27 18:07:46
Amazon Black Friday deals: The Fire Max 11 tablet is down to a record-low price
The Amazon Fire Max 11 tablet is on sale for just $140, which is a record low price. This early Black Friday deal brings the price down from $230, which is a savings of nearly 40 percent. That’s a whole lot of tablet for not so much money. This is a fairly recent entry into Amazon’s library of tablets, having just been released last year. The Fire Max 11 boasts a large 11-inch LCD screen, a slim aluminum frame and plenty of smart home controls. Of course, it integrates with Alexa for voice controls. This is the cooler and more refined sibling of the Fire 10 and Fire 8 tablets. The tablet uses an octa-core MediaTek processor and weighs just over a pound. There’s a fingerprint sensor, support for WiFi 6 and 4GB of RAM. It runs Fire OS 8, which allows for split-screen and picture-in-picture features. This lets users slam some emails while, say, keeping an eye on a YouTube video. The tablet integrates with a keyboard and stylus, but those cost extra. There are some minor downsides. First of all, this is an ad-supported model that’ll throw advertisements on the lock screen. In my experience, these are surprisingly unobtrusive. I hate ads and barely notice them. This sale is also for the 64GB version. That’s not a whole lot of room but the tablet does come with a microSD reader for up to 1TB of additional storage. There are a whole bunch of Amazon items on sale right now for Black Friday. These deals include the Kindle Paperwhite for $130 and the Echo Dot for $23, among many others. Check out all of the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/amazon-black-friday-deals-the-fire-max-11-tablet-is-down-to-a-record-low-price-103026147.html?src=rss
Published: 2024-11-27 18:03:11
Seagate's 2TB Xbox expansion card is $193 for Black Friday
There are a bunch of deals on consoles and video games for Black Friday. But even if you buy physical copies, current-gen consoles require that games be fully installed onto internal storage to minimize loading times. If you have a lot of games, you may want to have extra storage space. As such, Xbox Series X/S owners may wish to consider picking up Seagate's storage expansion card. The 2TB variant is on sale at the minute. It has dropped to an all-time low of $193.43 for Black Friday. That's 46 percent off the regular price. Let's face it, proprietary storage stinks, but the choice for Series X/S owners looking for more space is largely between Seagate's Storage Expansion Card and WD's Black C50. It's possible to store Series X/S games on a regular external drive, but you'll need to move them to internal storage or an expansion card anyway to actually play them. If you don't want to deal with shifting large files around and waiting for transfers to complete, or you don't want to delete and download games more than is necessary, an expansion card is the way to go. Seagate's version is one of our picks for the best Xbox Series X/S accessories. The 2TB version should give you ample space — at least until you start filling it up with all of the huge Call of Duty games that have started hitting Game Pass. Check out all of the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/seagates-2tb-xbox-expansion-card-is-193-for-black-friday-180119953.html?src=rss
Published: 2024-11-27 18:01:19
Black Friday deals discount the Echo Buds down to only $25
Believe it or not, there are solid budget wireless earbuds out there and now’s a great time to look for them since many will be discounted for Black Friday. Case in point: the latest Echo Buds, a pair of our favorites, which are half off and down to only $25 as part of Amazon’s Black Friday deals. Amazon released its most recent generation of Echo Buds in 2023 and impressed us with its level of quality for an open earbud option. The semi-in-ear style allows for more ambient noise and might be more comfortable depending on your ear shape. The earbuds have some solid perks such as multi-device connectivity and a solid five hours of music playback. You can increase their life by another hour if you turn wake word off. You'll get up to 20 hours of charge with the case. As an Amazon device, the Echo Buds are also equipped with Alexa, so you can ask the assistant to play music, call someone, set a reminder or one of the many other standard tasks. Plus, you can use the Alexa app to set tap controls for muting your mics and changing your music. Speaking of music, these earbuds have 12mm drivers and a crisp overall sound (though the open nature hurts the bass quality). Be careful, though, when working out as their low IPX2 water resistance rating means sweat could be a problem. Check out all of the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/black-friday-deals-discount-the-echo-buds-down-to-only-25-100030874.html?src=rss
Published: 2024-11-27 17:57:33
Black Friday Kindle deals include the new Paperwhite for $30 off
The latest Kindle Paperwhite is barely a month old, but it’s already getting a discount for Black Friday. You can pick up the new ereader for $30 off, at a final price of $130. That’s a record low since the device’s debut, and it boasts faster page turns, a bigger and better screen and longer battery life. The sixth-generation Paperwhite has a seven-inch screen, noticeably bigger than the 6.8-inch one on its predecessor. Amazon also boosted the display’s contrast thanks to its oxide thin-film transistor display tech, which should help reduce eyestrain. It still has a warm light that you can tune to match your room’s lighting. The front light in the new model gets 25 percent brighter at its maximum level than the fifth-gen model. The new Paperwhite has 25 percent faster page turns than its predecessors, which Engadget’s Amy Skorheim found makes a marked difference in the reading experience. (The review was for the more expensive Signature Edition, but it has identical page turns.) At 7.8mm thick, this is the thinnest Paperwhite to date. The ereader still has IPX8 water resistance, and the device uses a new rubberized texture that makes it easier to grip. Amazon estimates its battery will last up to 12 weeks per charge. It ships with a USB-C cable (but no power brick). You can also save on the new standard Kindle on sale for $85 (from $110). Although that model skips out on the warm light and has a smaller screen, it gives you a lighter and more compact ereader on the cheap. Check out all of the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/black-friday-kindle-deals-include-the-new-paperwhite-for-30-off-090013343.html?src=rss
Published: 2024-11-27 17:53:35
The best Black Friday laptop deals from Apple, Microsoft, Lenovo, ASUS and others
With many online retailers already rolling out their annual Black Friday sales, a number of the better laptop discounts we expect to see on the big day itself are available now. If you need a new notebook, we’ve researched the market, checked price histories and rounded up the Black Friday laptop deals that are genuinely decent below. As of this writing, those include several notebooks we’ve tested and recommended for their best prices to date. The latest MacBook Air is available for a new low of $844, for instance, while Microsoft's newest Surface Laptop is $300 off. The top recommendation in our Chromebook buying guide is discounted as well, as is our pick for the best Windows notebook for those on a tighter budget. We’re updating this post through Black Friday as prices change and more deals pop up. Just remember that many of the deals below are for pre-configured models; if you want to spec out your machine more precisely, it's still worth buying directly from the manufacturer. The Apple MacBook Air (2024).Engadget Apple MacBook Air (13-inch, M3) for $844 at Amazon ($255 off MSRP): The latest MacBook Air is our pick for the best laptop you can buy. It ticks nearly all the boxes for those who prefer macOS, from its premium design and comfy keyboard to its lengthy battery life and capable performance for everyday use. We gave it a score of 90 in our review. A recent Bloomberg report said that Apple will likely release a minor refresh early next year, but this is a new low for the current base model, which includes Apple’s M3 chip, 16GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD. If you want more storage, the 512GB variant is down to an all-time low of $1,049. Also at Best Buy for $5 more. Apple MacBook Air (15-inch, M3) for $1,044 at Amazon ($255 off): The 15-inch MacBook Air is more or less identical to the 13-inch version in terms of features and performance, but it has a more spacious display and better speakers. It is about 0.6 pounds heavier, though. This is the best price to date for the base model with an M3 chip, 16GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD, but a version with double the storage space is available for a new low of $1,234 as well. Also at Best Buy. Apple MacBook Air (13-inch, M2) for $749 at Amazon ($250 off): If you’re on a tighter budget, the last-generation MacBook Air gets you most of the things we love about the newer M3 model at a lower price. The main sacrifices are a slightly lesser chip, technically slower storage in the base model and no ability to connect to two external monitors. This ties the lowest price we’ve seen for the entry-level variant, which includes an M2 chip, 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. Also at Best Buy. The Apple MacBook Pro (2024).Devindra Hardawar for Engadget Apple MacBook Pro (14-inch, M4 Pro) for $2,099 at Amazon ($300 off): The recently updated MacBook Pro is more laptop than most people need, but it's still a powerhouse for coders, media editors and those with more demanding needs. We gave it a 92 in our review earlier this month. Just keep in mind that there’s no USB-A port and, as with all Apple laptops, effectively no way to upgrade the device after purchase. This is the largest discount yet for the configuration with Apple’s M4 Pro chip, 24GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD. A version with 512GB of storage is $250 off and down to a low of $1,749 as well. Also at Best Buy. Apple MacBook Pro (16-inch, M4 Pro) for $2,199 at Amazon ($300 off): The 16-inch MacBook Pro adds a roomier display and a couple extra hours of battery life to the same excellent performance, build quality and mini-LED display of its smaller counterpart. The downside is that it’s heavier at 4.7 pounds. This is an all-time low for the config with an M4 Pro chip, 24GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. Also at Best Buy. Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 (13.8-inch) for $899 at Amazon ($300 off): We gave the latest Surface Laptop a review score of 88 earlier this year, and we currently recommend it as a great mainstream ultraportable in our laptop buying guide. The caveat is that it runs on an ARM processor, which performs well but may not work with every app or peripheral you use. If you can live with that, though, the bright 120Hz display, upscale aluminum design and long battery life all impress. This configuration with a Snapdragon X Plus chip, 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD is technically available for $800 at Micro Center, but only with in-store pick up. Otherwise, this is the best price we’ve seen. If you prefer a bigger screen, a 15-inch version with a Snapdragon X Elite chip and 256GB of storage is down to a low of $1,095. Also at Best Buy. The Microsoft Surface Laptop (7th generation).Photo by Sam Rutherford/Engadget HP Pavilion Aero 13 for $580 at HP ($320 off): The HP Pavilion Aero is the budget pick in our laptop buying guide. It feels a bit cheap, and its webcam is poor, but it’s thin and light, it has a decent port selection and its IPS display is solid for the money. This config with a Ryzen 5 8640 chip, 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD should be fast enough for typical web browsing, word processing and light photo editing. This ties the best price we could find for the 2024 model since its release. Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus for $369 at Best Buy ($130 off): The Flex 5i Chromebook Plus tops our guide to the best Chromebooks. We like that its IPS touchscreen has a tall 16:10 aspect ratio, as it makes the device better-suited to word processing and reading web pages. It runs just fine for the basic tasks you’re meant to do with Chrome OS, and both its keyboard and trackpad feel reliable. Its battery life is mediocre, however, and at 3.6 pounds it’s fairly heavy for a 14-inch notebook. This discount is $20 more than the lowest price we’ve ever seen, and it’s been live for a weeks now, but it’s still a decent way off this config’s typical street price. It includes an Intel Core i3-1315U chip, 8GB of RAM and 128GB of eMMC storage. ASUS TUF Gaming A16 Advantage Edition (2023) gaming laptop for $700 at Best Buy ($400 off): Although it’s a 2023 model, this configuration of the A16 should do the job for value-minded buyers. It comes with a 16-inch 165Hz 1,920 x 1,200 display, an AMD Ryzen 7 7735HS processor, 16GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD and an AMD Radeon RX 7700S GPU. You’ll still have to deal with the usual trade-offs of a cheaper gaming laptop: It can get warm under load, it’s bulky, the keyboard isn’t great and the screen is somewhat dim. But it’s powerful enough to run newer games in 1080p, the chassis is generally sturdy, and the battery can reach double-digit hours when you aren’t gaming. This discount is $20 above than the config’s all-time low but ties the best price we’ve seen otherwise. The Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus.Photo by Nathan Ingraham / Engadget ASUS ROG Strix G16 (2024) gaming laptop for $1,615 at Amazon ($285 off): While not a top pick in any of our guides, this configuration of the ROG Strix G16 should be a solid value for those in search of a 16-inch all-rounder gaming notebook. It includes an Intel Core i9-14900X chip, 16GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 GPU, which should be enough to run many games at high-ish settings without much hassle. The overall build doesn’t feel cheap, and the 2,560 x 1,600 240Hz display is both sharp and fast. The RAM and storage are user-upgradeable, too, though the battery life and 720p webcam aren’t ideal. This deal matches an all-time low. Another model with a 1080p panel, a Core i7-13650HX chip and a RTX 4060 GPU is on sale for a low of $1,100, but you’ll have to turn down game settings more frequently to get decent frame rates with that one. Alienware M18 R2 gaming laptop for $2,200 at Amazon ($500 off): The M18 R2 is an iteration of the top 18-inch pick in our gaming laptop buying guide. It’s an absolute tank, but it’s put together well, and this configuration can blow through new games at high settings in 1080p or 1440p. It comes with a 165Hz 2,560 x 1,600 panel, an Intel Core i9-14900HX chip, 32GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 GPU. While this deal price is far from cheap, it's a new low for this variant. A lower-spec model is also on sale for $1,900, though that one will run into issues sooner with more demanding games. Apple iPad Pro (11-inch, M4) for $849 at Amazon ($150 off, clip $50 coupon): The iPad Pro is still overkill for most people, but its class-leading OLED display, remarkably slim frame and powerful M4 chip make it a tremendous tablet. It can work as a laptop replacement for certain creative types, but you’ll have to live with iPadOS’ continued shortcomings in multitasking, file management and other computer-y tasks. If you’re thinking of making the switch — or if you’ve just got money to burn and want a more portable companion to your current laptop — this matches the lowest price we’ve seen for the latest 11-inch model. Just clip the $50 on-page coupon. If you’re willing to pay for a roomier display, the 13-inch iPad Pro is also on sale for a low of $1,099. Check out all of the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/the-best-black-friday-laptop-deals-from-apple-microsoft-lenovo-asus-and-others-151347398.html?src=rss
Published: 2024-11-27 17:51:52
Black Friday Proton VPN deals for 2024 include up to 70 percent off membership plans
Now isn’t a bad time to try our pick for the best VPN service for 2024. ProtonVPN is on sale for 70 percent off 24-month subscriptions ($71.76 upfront) and 50 percent off 12-month plans ($59.88). That averages out to $3 monthly if you go with two years and $5 monthly for the single-year option. It’s just one of many subscription deals you can find for Black Friday, making now a good time to check which services you use regularly (or wanted to try) have been discounted. ProtonVPN is Engadget’s favorite VPN service of 2024. Although most services passed our tests with high marks, Proton’s service stood out for its independently audited no-logs policy, a proven record of refusing law enforcement requests, open-source code and a peer-review program that discloses potential vulnerabilities. We also liked its user-friendly interface. The company offers a limited free plan, but ProtonVPN Plus gives you access to 6,500 servers in more than 110 countries. It also includes the company’s high-speed (10Gbps) servers, BitTorrent support, a built-in ad blocker and the option to route your connection through multiple servers. Other Proton services are also on sale. That includes Proton Mail, the company’s fully encrypted email service that put it on the map. You can get 12 months for 60 percent off ($23.88) or 24 months for 30 percent off ($83.76). ProtonMail recently added an AI-powered writing feature to its mail service. Even if you aren’t a fan of robots putting words into your mouth, the service still gives you up to 10 email addresses (including custom domain support), smart filters and labels, one-click unsubscribe and dedicated mobile and desktop apps. Check out all of the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/black-friday-proton-vpn-deals-for-2024-include-up-to-70-percent-off-membership-plans-192530420.html?src=rss
Published: 2024-11-27 17:48:46
ExpressVPN Black Friday deal: Get up to 61 percent off a 30-month plan
Black Friday doesn't just mean discounts on "stuff," it also means big price cuts on services — and VPNs are no exception. ExpressVPN, a mainstay on our list of best VPNs, is currently offering an attractive discount for all new customers: Up to 61 percent off. US-based customers can choose between two plans with huge discounts over ExpressVPN's standard rate. The "1-year plan" (actually 16 months) costs $6.25 per month, billed at a total of $100, and the 2-year plan (actually 30 months) costs just $4.99 per month, billed at a total of $150. Those rates compare to a default price of $12.95 per month. Engadget deemed ExpressVPN the best for streaming services, frequent travel and gaming. Its biggest drawback is generally considered to be the price — higher than most rivals in the space — so this is a great time to get it at a discount. (There's a 7-day trial period and a 30-day money back guarantee, so you can make sure it meets your needs before committing.) Since we conducted our review, ExpressVPN has added some additional features making it more of a full-service suite, including a password manager and ad blocker. More recently, it's added ID alerts (with a $1 million identity theft insurance package), as well as a data removal service (to counteract the preponderance of online data brokers). Some notable caveats: The data removal service is only available on the 30-month plan, and the ID alerts, insurance and data removal features are only applicable to subscribers in the US. Furthermore, these discounts are applicable only to new ExpressVPN customers. And the service will automatically renew at the standard rate after the initial discount period expires. It goes without saying that ExpressVPN is compatible with nearly all major operating systems, with support for connecting 8 devices at a time. And its no-logs policy means your online activity is as anonymous as can be. If you're looking for a dependable VPN that now has a bevy of additional privacy features, ExpressVPN is worth checking out. But don't delay: This offer is only good through December 6. Check out all of the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/expressvpn-black-friday-deal-get-up-to-61-percent-off-a-30-month-plan-120441157.html?src=rss
Published: 2024-11-27 17:46:55
Hulu Black Friday streaming deals include one year of the Disney+ Hulu bundle for $36
Black Friday streaming deals have come in strong again this year, and one of the best is on Disney+ and Hulu. The Duo Basic bundle is on sale for $3 per month for one whole year, which comes out to $36 for the entire time period. This bundle gives you access to Hulu’s basic tier with ads and Disney+’s basic tier with ads, and only new users or subscribers who canceled their plans at least a month ago are eligible to redeem the discount. This bundle with ads contains content from Disney+ and Hulu. The content is still the same as with ad-free plans, including movies and series like Deadpool & Wolverine, Frozen, Godmothered and Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, the anticipated Star Wars series only on Disney+. If some of these newer shows aren’t to your liking, there are likely older classics worth your time in the library. The deal will begin on November 27 and end on December 2. After 12 months, the subscription will renew at the regular price if automatic renewal is enabled. Disney+ is one of the best streaming services out there, focusing on providing family-friendly content but also with some more mature content. If you want even more adult-oriented shows and series, Hulu fits the bill. Both have original content as well. There are a number of other Black Friday streaming deals available now as well. Key among them are discounts on one year of Peacock and six months of Max. Here are more details: Peacock annual subscription for $20 (75 percent off): This Peacock Black Friday deal brings the price of one year of access to the ad-supported tier down to only $20. Note that the subscription will automatically renew at the regular rate after the first year, and the deal is only available to new subscribers who are not currently paying for Peacock. Max 6-month subscription for $18 (70 percent off): This Max Black Friday deal gives you access to the Ads tier for $3 per month for the first six months, coming out to a total of only $18 for the promo period. New and returning Max subscribers can take advantage of this. Paramount+ with Showtime two-month subscription for $6 (76 percent off): New and former subscribers can get two months of access to either the ad-supported tier Essentials or the Showtime tier for only $6 in this Paramount+ Black Friday deal. Essential lets you watch on three devices at once, while the premium tier includes access to Showtime originals and ad-free viewing (with the exception of live TV). Check out all of the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/hulu-black-friday-streaming-deals-include-one-year-of-the-disney-hulu-bundle-for-36-140024466.html?src=rss
Published: 2024-11-27 17:45:21
Black Friday deals drop the Fire TV Stick 4K Max down to an all-time low of $33
A bunch of Amazon’s in-house-made gear has been discounted for Black Friday, and some of the best deals so far are on its streaming devices. The Fire TV Stick 4K Max, the company's most powerful streaming dongle, has dropped to a new low of $33. That's a 45 percent discount off its original $60 price tag. This compact streamer supports 4K content and comes with an enhanced Alexa Voice Remote and Wi-Fi 6E support. You can, of course, use it to access Amazon Prime Video, along with Netflix, Disney+ and all your favorite services. While the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max is a good option for streaming, we also use it for something a bit different: playing retro games. Our senior reporter Jeff Dunn bought one to play games from the PS1, Game Boy, Genesis, old arcade games and more. He finds it works much better than having to lug around any bigger devices. However, using your Fire TV Stick 4K Max to play old games requires a bit of setup so, if you're interested in trying it, may I direct you to Dunn's helpful guide here. Amazon's Fire TV Cube is also discounted as part of a larger sale on Fire TV devices for Black Friday. Right now, you can pick up the streaming device for 29 percent off, dropping to $100 from $140. The Cube is your pick if you want access to ethernet and hands-free use with Alexa. It's more powerful than the 4K Max, but, for the price difference, it's a tough call if it's worth it. Check out all of the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/black-friday-deals-drop-the-fire-tv-stick-4k-max-down-to-an-all-time-low-of-33-140334161.html?src=rss
Published: 2024-11-27 17:35:43
Shuhei Yoshida is leaving PlayStation in January after three decades
As of January 15, 2025, PlayStation’s Shuhei Yoshida will leave Sony but not retire from the industry entirely. Yoshida made the announcement while on the PlayStation Podcast Tuesday (a condensed transcription of the interview appears on the official PlayStation blog.) He hasn’t provided a reason why he’s leaving. Many know Yoshida as Sony Interactive’s Head of Indies Initiative, a position he got in 2019. In other words, he’s in charge of getting indie games onto PlayStation consoles by networking with indie developers and promoting the games they made. Before this, he was part of the original team behind the first PlayStation console, meaning he’s been working on these consoles since the very beginning. We interviewed him back in 2013 to talk about Sony’s commitment to (and his particular affinity for) indie developers. Yoshida believes that since PlayStation has been in good hands and has been thriving since its release, it’s time he moved on. His love for the console series remains, and he’s still highly optimistic about its future. You may have seen his powerful roast of Microsoft’s previous plan to prevent Xbox One owners from easily sharing physical games back in 2013. It only took Yoshida 21 seconds to make his point that the PS4 wouldn’t have such restrictions and how bad of an idea Microsoft dreamed up. His horror when playtesting an early build of 2018’s God of War is also somewhat known. As noted by Kotaku, Yoshida’s announcement is almost a week away from the PlayStation’s 30th anniversary, December 3.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/shuhei-yoshida-is-leaving-playstation-in-january-after-three-decades-172042338.html?src=rss
Published: 2024-11-27 17:20:42
Black Friday speaker deals for 2024: Save up to 55 percent off JBL, Sonos, Echo, Marshall and more
Earbuds are nice, but a portable speaker shares music with friends. And now for Black Friday, many of our favorite music sharers are on sale. We found deals on many of the speakers we’ve tested for our various guides and reviews — and most of those discounts are hitting the lowest prices of the year so far. One of the best deals is the JBL Flip 6, now $50 off. We're also seeing the Marshall's Emberton II speaker returning to it's previous low of $100. And it's not just Bluetooth speakers getting the discounts. Further down the page you'll see deals we found on smart speakers and soundbars too. Most everything here has been pulled from our Bluetooth speaker buying guide, our smart speaker roundup and other buying advice articles. Here are the best speaker deals we could find for Black Friday. The best Bluetooth speaker Black Friday deals JBL Portable Bluetooth speakers make it easy for you to bring the music where plugs don’t reach — a picnic, the front stoop, an aimless wander along the North Country Trail. And right now for Black Friday, we’re seeing plenty of Bluetooth speaker black Friday deals. Below is the best of what’s on sale, all pulled from our Bluetooth speaker guide as well as our reviews and news coverage. The best JBL speaker Black Friday deals JBL Clip 5 for $50 ($30 off): It’s tiny, portable and brings its own clip along with it. You’ll get 12 hours of listening from its waterproof body and the whole thing weighs just over half a pound. JBL Flip 6 for $80 ($50 off): This is the one I bought after reading our guide and I love it. The crowler-sized speaker has great sound quality, is durable as heck and can either sit on its end or on its side. Plus it’s waterproof, dustproof and packs 12 hours of playtime. Also at Amazon and Walmart. JBL Xtreme 3 for $250 ($80 off): We compare the size of the Xtreme 3 to a football, but since it weighs over four pounds JBL includes a strap for easier carrying. Like most portable speakers it’s waterproof and dust-proof. The lively highs and hefty lows sound great outside, but really the speaker really shines when it can resonate indoors. Also at JBL. JBL Xtreme 4 for $300 ($80 off): The latest generation of our recommended JBL Xtreme adds around nine hours of battery life and a replaceable battery. It’s also made from more recycled content and throws in some AI-powered tuning. Also at Target. The previous generation model is $250. JBL Go 4 for $40 ($10 off): JBL’s smallest portable speaker has up to seven hours of battery life on a charge, has an IP67 waterproof rating and has a tiny built-in carry strap so you can bring it wherever you go. Also at JBL and Best Buy. The best Marshall Black Friday deals Marshall Emberton II for $100 ($70 off): This is the smallest Marshall speaker in our guide. Its dual 10-watt drivers and passive radiators create an impressive, 360-degree sound. While it’s not super loud, we think the output is nicely balanced. You’ll get up to 30 hours of play on a charge. Also at Best Buy and directly from Marshall. Marshall Middleton for $200 ($100 off): The aptly named Middleton is the mid-range Marshall speaker in our guide. The four-pound box puts out excellent sound from the dual woofers and tweeters located at the front and back, and passive radiators along each side. And the classic Marshall look is pretty stylish. Also at Best Buy and directly from Marshall. Marshall Willen for $60 ($60 / 50 percent off): This is close to an all-time low price on a tiny music box that we named one of our favorite gadgets from last year. Engadget’s Sarah Fielding thinks it’s perfect, saying, “The sound quality is great and it stays connected to my phone regardless of where I go in my little house (the range is 30 feet). Plus, the battery is great, with a playtime of over 15 hours.” Marshall Acton III for $200 ($80 off): This is the speaker on Sarah's holiday wishlist. The six-pound speaker needs to be plugged in and isn't waterproof, so it's intended to play indoors. But this is a good one to get if you want a retro-looking box for your living room that can emit Marshall's signature warm and balanced sound. Also at Marshall. The best Bose Black Friday deals Bose SoundLink Home for $199 ($20 off): It’s a smaller speaker at just two pounds but Bose promises premium sound from the SoundLink Home. We haven't had the chance to test it ourselves just yet, but if the sleek good looks are calling to you, this discount might be a good time to invest. Just note that it’s not waterproof as the “Home” moniker suggests. Bose SoundLink Flex (2nd gen) for $119 ($30 off): When Bose announced the release of the SoundLink Home, the company also introduced this revamped Flex. The first generation is one of the picks from our Bluetooth speaker guide. This newer generation works with the Bose app and has a new programmable button. Also at Bose and Best Buy. The first generation model is on sale for the same price. Bose SoundLink Max for $299 ($100 off): The largest portable speaker Bose makes is part of the new SoundLink lineup which Bose announced in May. Also at Amazon and Target. Bose Smart Soundbar for $399 ($100 off): The latest Bose soundbar came out just a couple months ago and is already on sale. It’s a smaller model that supports Dolby Atmos and has an AI Dialogue Mode as well as a Personal Surround feature if you happen to own a pair of the Ultra Open Earbuds. Bose says the AI smarts make voices easier to hear while retaining the audio’s immersive qualities. Also at Amazon. The best Ultimate Ears speaker Black Friday deals Ultimate Ears Everboom for $200 ($50 off): The Everboom is a new speaker in the lineup, which UE announced back in June. We reviewed it shortly after and deemed it worthy of inclusion in our guide. Not only does it float, it puts out loud, 360 degree audio and packs 20 hours of listening in a unit that’s just over two pounds. Also at Best Buy. Ultimate Ears Mini Roll for $50 ($30 off): This less-than-a-pound sound maker came out at the same time as the Everboom. It supplanted the Wonderboom as the smallest speaker in UE’s lineup and even sports a built-in, flexible strap to attach to just about anything. It’s IP67 rated to be dust- and waterproof and can crank out 85 decibels of volume — impressive for something so small. Also at Amazon and B&H Photo. Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 4 for $79 ($21 off): We put the Wonderboom 3 on our guide to the best speakers and this next-gen model includes a new podcast mode EQ for crisp vocals and is made from more recycled plastics. Like its predecessor, it’ll go for 14 hours on a charge and packs a waterproof build into its mini barrel-like shape. Also at Ultimate Ears for $1 more. Other Black Friday Bluetooth speaker deals Beats Pill for $100 ($50 off): Beats came back to the Bluetooth speaker market with the completely redesigned Pill — and we think it was worth the wait. The durable unit earned a spot on our Bluetooth speaker guide and an 83 in our review. It offers much improved sound quality with impressive bass and full mids. You also get a long, 24-hour battery life and lossless audio over USB-C. Also at Walmart. Sony ULT Field 1 for $98 ($32 off): Earlier this year, Sony waved goodbye to the Extra Bass and XE-Series products, folding them into the new ULT Power Series branding. This 1.4-pound unit has a 12-hour battery life and IP67 rating. This matches the all-time low. It's two dollars more at Best Buy and direct from Sony. Anker Soundcore Motion 300 for $56 ($24 off): Weighing in at less than two pounds, Anker’s speaker has a bright, punchy output with a crisp high end and thumpy bass. Plus it’s waterproof and goes for 13 hours on a charge. No wonder it made our list of the best speakers. Also direct from Soundcore. Anker Soundcore Motion+ for $69 ($30 off): A few Anker Soundcore speakers made our best list and this one weighs just over two pounds. It delivers a bright and bassy output, can play for around 12 hours on a charge and the build is solid with an attractive metal grille. Anker Soundcore 2 Portable Bluetooth Speaker for $28 ($12 off): Anker’s Soundcore brand proves the accessory brand can make some excellent electronics, too. This is one of the smaller and more affordable models and it’s currently back to one of its lowest prices yet. Tribit StormBox Micro 2 for $45 ($35 off): This is the smallest speaker in our guide and it can go with you anywhere with the built-in strap. It pumps out impressive volume for its size and can go for 12 hours on a charge. The audio isn’t the highest fidelity, but this is more about bringing the vibes than emitting flawless musical clarity. Also directly from Tribit with an auto-coupon. The best Black Friday smart speaker deals Nathan Ingraham / Engadget The first thing to decide before you buy a smart speaker is who you prefer to do your smart home-related bidding: Do you want Alexa’s wry yet efficient manner, Google’s info-packed know-how, or Siri’s dreamy presence? Then check out these Black Friday deals so you can get that smart home help at a discount. The Best Sonos smart speaker Black Friday deals Sonos Era 100 for $199 ($50 off): The Sonos Era 100 is our pick for the best midrange smart speaker. We like the excellent sound quality plus it pairs well with other Sonos devices. It has Alexa built-in, so it can handle regular smart home duties, but it’ll also make your music sound far better than any spherical Echo can. Sonos Era 300 for $359 ($90 off): This is a return to a low we've tracked before on one of Sonos's larger speakers. It went all-in on spatial audio, but as we found in our review, those results are hit or miss. However, the speaker itself delivers excellent sound quality, is easy to set up and has a line-in option as well as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity. Also at Adorama. Sonos Roam 2 for $139 ($40 off): Sonos also makes the best portable smart speaker, according to our guide. We like the good sound quality and strong bass, as well as the fact that it connects via both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Also at Sonos. Sonos Move 2 for $359 ($90 off): The Move is an upgrade on the Roam in every way (including the price). It earned an 80 in our review. We like that it’s a nice upgrade over the previous Move, with two tweeters for more detailed sound. The battery lasts a full 24 hours on a charge and the touch controls up top are very nice. It also has a line-in jack via USB-C, so you can hook up a turntable. Also at Sonos. The best Amazon Echo smart speaker Black Friday deals Amazon Echo Dot (5th gen) for $23 ($27 off): The Dot is Amazon’s most popular Echo speaker, delivering Alexa’s helpful assistance in a softball-sized package that puts out surprisingly decent music for its size. It gets our vote for the best smart speaker under $50. It also has an internal sensor that can tell you the temp in the room as well as trigger connected smart thermostat functions. Amazon Echo Dot Kids for $28 ($32 off): The kids version is basically the same smart speaker but comes in a cute dragon or own skin and includes a year’s subscription to Amazon Kids+. Amazon Echo (4th Gen) for for $50 ($50 off): If you plan to listen to a lot of music through your Echo, you may want to go with the larger model. The Echo has an upward-firing woofer and dual tweeters for sound that we said delivers “impressive bass thump and powerful mid-range frequencies.” It can add stuff to your shopping list and set a timer but is also capable of producing room-filling sound. Amazon Echo Pop for $18 ($22 / 55 percent off): The smallest Echo speaker is the Pop, a half sphere that’s probably best suited to small rooms where it’ll primarily be used as a smart assistant, as opposed to a dedicated music maker. The money you save here could be used for the compatible wall mount if you want to save some counter space. Amazon Echo Pop Kids for $23 ($27 off): The kids version is basically the same smart speaker but comes in a Disney princess or Marvel hero skin and includes a six-month subscription to Amazon Kids+. Amazon Echo Spot for $45 ($35 off): The Spot is technically still a speaker, though half of it is a display. Amazon discontinued this model for a few years, but brought it back in July. The half-moon screen can display the time, weather and the song that’s playing. Other Black Friday smart speaker deals Samsung Music Frame for $248 ($150 off): Samsung first announced its Music Frame back in January at CES 2024. It takes its cue from the Frame TV that disguises itself as art. This wireless speaker has room for your own (physical) photo within its frame, along with two woofers, two tweeters and two mid-range drivers to spit out sound from your favorite streaming services. Also at Best Buy and directly from Samsung for $2 more. Google Pixel Tablet with speaker dock for $459 ($140 off): The speaker dock is what qualifies what's really a tablet for this list. The charging dock sort of turns the tablet into a smart display, like an Echo Show. You can also use it as a standalone slab, but as we found in our review, it's far more exciting as a home hub than a tablet. Google Nest Audio for $50 ($50 off): It’s more than four years old at this point, but the Nest Audio offers a decent ratio of sound quality to price, according to our review, and it’ll put the best of the Google Assistant’s assistance at your service. Also at Google. Black Friday soundbar deals Devindra Hardawar for Engadget For our guide to the best soundbars, our audio expert Billy Steele picked six winners out of the dozens of home theater speakers he and other Engadget staffers have tested over the years — and one of them is on sale for Black Friday (we expect more sales to pop up closer to Black Friday so check this post again). This is a great chance to improve greatly upon the audio from your (probably thin) TV. Sonos Ray for $169 ($110 off): A soundbar doesn’t have to be huge to make a big difference in the sound quality coming from the direction of your TV. Billy recommends this one for smaller rooms and for people who want an easy setup. I personally got one of these last year and immediately noticed a difference in dialogue clarity. Also at Amazon. Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar Mini for $500 ($300 off): We billed the Ambeo Mini as another premium option if the Samsung option doesn’t work for you. It requires a subwoofer to maximize the speaker’s potential, but once you do the immersive sound is truly impressive — especially for the size. Sonos Beam for $369 ($130 off): It only has one HDMI port and no upward-firing drivers, but the Beam delivers solid sound quality with support for Dolby Atmos, and of course, it pairs nicely with other Sonos speakers. Plus it’s relatively compact. Also at Amazon and Adorama. Samsung HW-Q990C for $1,100 ($898 off): The top spot in our soundbar guide isn’t cheap, but this Black Friday deal helps. And, for the price, you get a complete home theater audio setup complete with soundbar, subwoofer and two rear surround speakers. Samsung’s HW-Q990C may not have the prettiest name, but the sound quality is a thing of beauty, earning it an 89 in our review. Check out all of the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/black-friday-speaker-deals-for-2024-save-up-to-55-percent-off-jbl-sonos-echo-marshall-and-more-172645716.html?src=rss
Published: 2024-11-27 17:06:42
Black Friday kitchen deals: Up to 44 percent off on sales from Breville, KitchenAid, Fellow and more
There are a plenty of silly things on sale for Black Friday, but good kitchen gear doesn’t fall into that category — if a device helps us cook better food at home, that’s a worthy purchase. Right now, plenty of the cooking gear we've tested and reviewed is on sale. One of the best deals is the Anyday microwave cookware starter set that's 30 percent off. And the Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro has retuned to the $300 low it hit last Black Friday. All these deals are pulled from our guides to kitchen gadgets, buying guides as well as gear we bought for ourselves. If you want to upgrade your kitchen, this is the good stuff. Here are the best Black Friday kitchen deals on appliances, gadgets and more from retailers across the web. The best Black Friday kitchen deals for 2024 Whether for buying guides, reviews or our own use, we’ve tried plenty of gadgets that make home cooking simpler and more enjoyable. We also recently put together a cooking gift guide full of our favorite stuff. Our picks include low and high tech devices for kitchens both indoor and outdoor and right now, lots of those harder-to-categorize recommendations are currently on sale for Black Friday and listed here. Photo by Sam Rutherford / Engadget Mannkitchen Pepper Cannon for $160 ($40 off with Prime): Our own Sam Rutherford admitted that $200 is a ridiculous price for a pepper mill (and this $160 Black Friday price is not much saner). But in his writeup, he details how the Pepper Cannon has become one of his favorite kitchen tools in such a way that makes me strongly consider it, ridiculous or not. Ninja Creami ice cream maker for $160 ($40 off): One of our favorite kitchen gadgets, this ice cream maker is super easy to use and makes an infinite amount of frozen treats; you're really only limited by your imagination. This is an Amazon exclusive model that comes with just one pint. The model with two pint jars is on sale too, but it’s $40 more, making it cheaper to buy extra containers separately. The two-pint model is also direct from Ninja. Meater Pro for $100 ($30 off): In our official review, Engadget’s Billy Steele praises the longer battery life and extended range of this updated smart thermometer from the Trager-owned company. It also packs increased heat resistance and is more durable overall. Also direct from Meater. Ooni Karu 16 outdoor pizza oven for $520 ($130 off): The Karu 16 is our favorite multi-fuel outdoor pizza oven but it’s not cheap, so it’s best to get it when it’s on sale. It has a large capacity that can handle full size pizzas — and even cast iron cookware — using wood, charcoal or propane fuel. Plus the bottom-mounted digital thermometer helps you keep tabs on your cooking. Thermapen One for $76 ($32 off): We recommend this blazingly fast thermometer in our grilling guide because it’ll give you a readout in one second on its auto-rotating screen. Stanley IceFlow tumbler with straw for $25 ($15 off): Our resident grill master, Billy Steele recommends having a reliable source of frosty beverage at the ready when you grill. This is the one he picked for our grilling gear buyer’s guide. Anyday Microwave Cookware Starter Set for $70 ($30 off): Our resident microwave aficionado Cherlynn Low speaks highly of these plastic-free dishes, which she’s been using for two years now. The design allows you to steam and even bake foods in the zapper box while also acting as excellent food storage containers. The best Black Friday deals on coffee and tea gear Photo by Sam Rutherford/Engadget Like most workplaces, Engadget runs on coffee — or at least the people responsible for it do. Many of us put our collective caffeinated experiences together to come up with a gift guide for coffee lovers. Of course, some of us are partial to tea, so we put a guide to tea gifts together as well. Right now for Black Friday, many of the picks from both lists are on sale. Fellow Tally coffee scale for $148 ($37 off): If you, or someone you’re buying presents for, are Very Serious about coffee, this scale might make sense. It combines precise weight measurements with a timer and a Brew Assist Mode to help you dial in the correct ratio for perfect pour-overs. Fellow Atmos Vacuum canister for $32 ($8 off): Only people who spend top dollars on the good coffee or loose leaf tea need this rather pricey canister. But it does the job of removing the air so oxidation can’t occur. Firebelly Tea Travel Mug for $32 ($8 off): This travel mug not only keeps your iced tea cold and your hot tea steamy, its insert also stops infusion when you press it down so you can steep on the go. Cosori Electric Gooseneck Kettle for $50 ($20 off, see price in cart): This is a return to a discount we've seen multiple times this year, and it's about $14 more than the all-time low. But this kettle has earned its spot on one of our editors’ tiny countertops. It has different built-in temperature settings for different types of drinks and an elegant gooseneck pour. Fellow Stagg EKG electric kettle for $132 ($33 off): This exquisitely designed kettle has an LCD panel built into the base so you can choose a specific temperature down to the degree. And the hold feature keeps water hot for up to an hour. It’s great for coffee pour over but is also excellent for tea. The best Black Friday deals on sous vide machines Photo by Avery Ellis / Engadget If you know someone without a sous vide machine, now might be a good time to ameliorate that situation as many of our favorite models are on sale. And if you happen to be without one, here’s your chance to get in on the low-effort, high-result water-bath cooking method. This is the best what’s on sale for Black Friday, as pulled from our picks. Anova Culinary Sous Vide 3.0 for $112 ($87 off): This is the best overall sous vide machine, according to testing for our buyer’s guide and this price beats the one from July. We like the easy digital controls and the high flow rate that maintains water temperature better. Also the companion app is stuffed with recipes. It's $120 at Best Buy and directly from Anova. Anova Culinary Sous Vide Precision Cooker Nano for $97 ($52 off): We've seen this price for much of the past month, so it's not exactly a new deal, but still a good discount on the machine that led Engadget's Avery Ellis to dub the sous vide stick the “Millennial crockpot.” She uses this one a few times a week to make unfussy meals that keep her alive. The Nano model is a slightly smaller and less expensive version of the top pick in our buyer’s guide. Also direct from Anova for $99. The best Black Friday deals on air fryers and Instant Pots Instant Brands Air fryers make microwaves jealous. Food that would otherwise come out hot yet soggy comes out hot and crisp and doesn’t take that much more time. Another kitchen MVP is the ever popular Instant Pot, which can cook everything from soups to rice, beans and more. Here are the best Black Friday deals on the air fryers and Instant Pots we recommend. Ninja DZ401 Foodi 10-quart air fryer for $130 ($100 off): What if you want to air fry two different foods at once? Go for our recommendation for a dual-zone air fryer. It’s best for larger kitchens and big meals and takes up a commensurate amount of space. It went as low as $150 for Black Friday last year. Also at Walmart and direct from Ninja. Instant Vortex Plus 6QT Air Fryer for $99 ($70 off): This is the top recommendation in our guide to air fryers and happens to be the model I bought for myself after reading our guide. It preheats quickly and keeps cooking odors to a minimum with replaceable filters (it even tells you when it’s time to replace). Plus clean-up is easy and the window is handy for making sure the nachos don't burn. Also at Walmart. Cosori 9-in-1 air frier for $88 ($32 off): This is the newest addition in our list, earning a runner up nod for best overall. It has nine preset cooking modes and a six-quart capacity that makes it just the right size to cook a good amount of food without taking up too much space on most countertops. Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro for $300 ($100 off): If you want a more traditional toaster oven design with a huge capacity, go for our premium air fryer pick. The fryer-and-oven combo can accommodate a five-quart dutch oven, so it’s almost an auxiliary oven, which could come in handy for holiday cooking. Also at Target and Best Buy. Breville the Smart Oven Air Fryer for $280 ($70 off): This is the non-Pro version of the Breville air fryer we recommend. It has a slightly smaller capacity (0.8 cubic feet instead of one cubic foot). But still has most of the same features including 11 of the 13 cooking functions. Instant Pot Pro 10-in-1 pressure cooker (6QT) for $100 ($70 off): These ubiquitous and highly versatile cookers can make just about anything you can dream up — Instant Pot recipes make up a considerable portion of online recipes. This is the pro version of the model we recommend in our buyer's guide to kitchen tech and it has five favorite buttons and extra wattage for a faster preheat. Best Buy has the eight-quart model on sale for $120. Instant Pot Duo Plus 9-in-1 Electric Pressure Cooker for $80 ($50 off): We like this Instant Pot model because it's simple to use and has several quick-cooking modes including beans, cake, sous vide and more. Ninja AF150AMZ Air Fryer for $90 ($70 / 44 percent off): This gets an honorable mention in our air fryer guide. Though the round cooking basket doesn’t feel as roomy as square ones, the taller and thinner design might make the most of limited countertop space. Plus it has a dehydrate option for making your own dried fruit. The best Black Friday deals on blenders and mixers KitchenAid Black Friday is a good time to upgrade an aging hand blender or finally get that Vitamix you’ve been thinking about. Whether for yourself or as a gift for the home cook on our list, these blender and juicer deals come straight out of our kitchen tech guides and will bring plenty of extra muscle for a low price. Breville Juice Fountain Plus for $113 ($67 off): The powerful Juice Fountain impressed us with its extraction abilities. Plus it’s relatively easy to clean (as long as you do it right after you juice). It takes up a good amount of space, but can extract an impressive amount of juice from even the driest-seeming carrot. Vitamix E310 Explorian Blender for $300 ($80 off): Oh the Vitamix. I can attest from personal experience it really is as powerful as you’ve heard. It’s of course a recommendation in our guide to kitchen gadgets for its ability to make even the toughest ingredients smooth and creamy. Also at Best Buy and direct from Vitamix. Vitamix Immersion Blender for $145 ($25 off): For an immersion blender that matches the power of a countertop version, go for the one from Vitamix. We found the 625-watt motor impressively powerful (duh) and think it’s great for people who want to make crushed ice drinks but don’t have space for a full-sized blender. Also at Amazon and Williams Sonoma. Ninja SS101 Foodi Smoothie Maker for $80 ($40 off): Engadget’s Vallentina Palladino recommends this smoothie blender in our gift guide for cooks saying it doesn’t take up that much space and the swappable lids make it easy to take one’s health shakes on the go. Also at Target and directly from Ninja. KitchenAid Artisan 5-quart stand mixer for $330 ($130 off): Small wonder that the home cook’s gold standard of mixers made its way onto our kitchen tech guide. Its ton of available attachments can be used to make pasta, grind food, strain or spiralize fruits and veggies and more. This is no unitasker. Also at Target and direct from KitchenAid. KitchenAid Go Cordless Hand Blender for $90 ($40 off): The big selling point here is the removable battery that you can use for other KitchenAid Go appliances. In our testing, it had enough power to turn a roasted butternut squash into a smooth, creamy soup. KitchenAid Variable Speed Corded Hand Blender for $45 ($15 off): If you’d rather a corded model of the KitchenAid recommendation, that’s on sale too — and is cheaper to begin with. This one comes with extra accessories to make it a true multitasker and has a powerful 180 watt motor, just like the cordless version. Also at Target. Check out all of the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/black-friday-kitchen-deals-up-to-44-percent-off-on-sales-from-breville-kitchenaid-fellow-and-more-153533396.html?src=rss
Published: 2024-11-27 16:46:46
The best Black Friday TV deals for 2024: Save on sets from Samsung, LG, Sony, Hisense and more
Black Friday is a couple of days away, but many online retailers have already kicked off their annual holiday sales. As a result, many of the better TV discounts we expect to see later this week are available now. If you’re looking to make a living room upgrade, we’ve scoured through reviews and checked price histories to find the Black Friday TV deals that aren't total junk. Right now, those include high-end OLEDs and budget LED TVs alike from Samsung, Sony, LG, Hisense and TCL. If you're already happy with your setup, we've also included some deals on recommended streaming gadgets from Amazon and Roku, plus a few holiday discounts on streaming services like Hulu, Peacock and Max. As has been the case in years past, a handful of these TV deals have been available since the start of the month, but most represent all-time lows either way. We’ll continue updating this post through Black Friday if prices change and more discounts become available. Hisense U6N QLED TV (55”) for $348 at Amazon ($200 off MSRP): Reviews around the web have praised the U6N as one of the year’s best budget-level TVs. It’s one of the few options in its price range with mini-LED backlighting, quantum dots and full-array local dimming, features that help it deliver better contrast and richer colors than most of its direct rivals. Its picture will wash out if you don’t view it straight-on, and its 60Hz refresh rate isn’t the best for gaming, but it’s a good bargain all the same. While this deal has been live for most of November, it’s still an all-time low. Other sizes are similarly discounted. Also at Best Buy. Hisense U7N QLED TV (65”) for $698 at Amazon ($300 off): The U7N is a standout for those who don’t want to pay for a high-end set but can still go above the budget tier. It delivers higher brightness levels and better contrast than the cheaper Hisense U6N, plus it can play at 144Hz in 4K, so it can make PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X games more fluid in motion. Its viewing angles still aren’t ideal, however, and it’s limited to just two gaming-friendly HDMI 2.1 ports. This is another deal we’ve seen for a few weeks, but it’s the lowest price to date for the 65-inch version. If you'd prefer a smaller size, the 55-inch model has dropped to a new low of $478. Also at Best Buy. Hisense U8N QLED TV (65”) for $898 at Amazon ($602 off): The U8N is another well-reviewed 2024 TV from Hisense. Like the lower-cost Hisense U7N, it offers mini-LED backlighting, quantum-dot color and 4K/144Hz support, plus it runs on the handy Google TV platform. The extra cash nets you a punchier image, with superb contrast for a non-OLED TV and higher brightness across the board. This deal ties an all-time low. Other sizes are discounted as well, but note that the 55-inch version isn’t as bright as its larger counterparts, while the 75-inch set has slightly worse contrast. Viewing angles aren’t super wide either way. Also at Best Buy. LG B4 OLED TV (48”) for $600 at Best Buy ($200 off): The B4 is LG’s entry-level OLED TV for 2024. It gets you the essential perks of any good OLED set — excellent contrast with deep black tones, wide viewing angles, fast motion, etc. — but it’s not as bright as some upper-tier OLEDs, so it’s best kept in a darker room. That said, this is a stellar value if you don’t mind a smaller panel. This discount ties an all-time low. The 55-inch version is also on sale for a low of $998, a price we've seen a few times before, while the 65-inch model has dipped to a new low of $1,198. The Samsung Frame TV.Amy Skorheim Samsung S90D QD-OLED TV (55”) for $1,038 at eBay ($1,160 off): The Samsung S90D is a premium TV that’s notable for its QD-OLED panel, which mixes the benefits of a good OLED display with a layer of quantum dots. This helps it put out a wider gamut of more vibrant colors, so images tend to “pop” more than they would on more traditional OLED TVs like the LG B4 or C4. It also has four HDMI 2.1 ports. Like all Samsung TVs, however, it doesn’t support the popular Dolby Vision HDR format. This is the best price we've seen for the 55-inch model. It's available at eBay via Electronic Express, which Samsung lists as an authorized reseller. Clip the SHOPCYBER20 coupon at checkout to see the final price. If you want a bigger panel, the 65-inch model is also on sale for a low of $1,398 at Amazon, Samsung, B&H and Best Buy. Other sizes are discounted as well, but be aware that only the 55-, 65- and 75-inch versions use the superior QD-OLED tech. Samsung S95D QD-OLED TV (55”) for $1,898 at Amazon ($500 off): The S95D is Samsung’s flagship set for 2024. Its QD-OLED panel is excellent but mainly stands out for having a matte finish, which makes it noticeably more effective at fending off glare than most OLED TVs. That said, there’s no Dolby Vision, and the matte coating can make black tones look closer to gray under direct light. In general, it’s more TV than most people need. But if you’ve got cash to burn, this deal is another all-time low. Also at Samsung and Best Buy, with other sizes on sale. Samsung QN90D QLED TV (43”) for $898 at Amazon ($400 off): The Samsung QN90D is another high-end LED TV for those willing to trade the deep contrast and wide viewing angles of a good OLED set for higher brightness. There’s still no Dolby Vision, and most reviewers we trust suggest that the Hisense U8N is a better value. This set has two more HDMI 2.1 ports, though, plus it comes in a wider range of sizes, all of which offer similar performance. This is the lowest price we’ve seen for the 43-inch model. Other sizes are also discounted. Also at Samsung, B&H and others. Samsung The Frame TV (2024) QLED TV (55”) for $898 at Amazon ($600 off): The Frame TV lags behind other sets in its price range in terms of picture quality, as it lacks local dimming to boost contrast. Instead, you’d buy it for its style, since it’s built to look like a framed piece of wall art and display actual artwork on-screen. Beyond that, this is one of the few TVs with a matte finish, which helps it ward off glare in bright rooms. Amazon subsidiary Woot had the 55-inch model for $20 less earlier in the week, but this deal ties its largest discount otherwise. Other sizes are on sale, but note that the 43- and 50-inch versions have a lower 60Hz refresh rate (instead of 120Hz) and lack variable refresh rate tech. Also at Best Buy and Samsung. The Sony Bravia 7.Sony TCL Q550F QLED TV (55”) for $250 at Best Buy ($200 off): The TCL Q5 is a relatively basic LED TV with a 60Hz refresh rate and no local dimming or HDMI 2.1 ports. This model also uses Amazon’s Fire OS software, which isn’t quite as clean as other platforms. Most people should get the better-looking Hisense U6N instead. But if you really want to save an extra $100 or just need a cheap TV for a back room, it should do the job. This discount for the 55-inch model is the best we’ve tracked. TCL Q68 QLED TV (55”) for $300 at Woot ($200 off): The Q68 is another cheapo LED TV that broadly falls short of the Hisense U6N’s picture quality, though it should offer better contrast than the TCL Q5 thanks to its local dimming feature. Like the Q5 and U6N, it can also play at a 120Hz refresh rate if you drop the resolution to 1080p or 1440p, which is nice for gaming. If you don’t want to spend any more than $300 for a 55-inch set, this is the lowest price we’ve found for this particular model. TCL QM8 QLED TV (65”) for $1,000 at Amazon ($500 off): If the Hisense U8N becomes unavailable, the TCL QM8 looks to be a decent alternative. It can get even brighter, according to reviewers we trust, but it has slightly worse contrast. We’ve seen this discount a few times in recent months, but it ties the all-time low for the 65-inch variant. Also at Best Buy. Sony Bravia 7 QLED TV (55”) for $1,298 at Amazon ($402 off): The Bravia 7 is a relatively premium set with mini-LED backlighting to improve contrast and quantum dots to boost colors. Reviews suggest that it provides accurate colors out of the box and does well to preserve details in lower-resolution content, so it’s worth considering over the Hisense U8N if those are chief concerns. It only has two HDMI 2.1 ports, however, and it’s another LED TV with mediocre viewing angles. Most people will be happier with an OLED TV at this price, though this deal is an all-time low. Also at Walmart and B&H, with other sizes similarly discounted. The Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max.Photo by Jeff Dunn / Engadget The best Black Friday streaming deals Roku Streaming Stick 4K for $29 at Amazon ($21 off): A pick from our guide to the best streaming devices, the Roku Streaming Stick 4K gets you snappy performance, Apple AirPlay support, and a dead-simple interface that makes it easy to access free shows and movies. It works with the necessary HDR formats and apps as well (Twitch aside), though its search function isn’t as in-depth as some of its peers, and the UI looks fairly bland. This deal is $4 more than the best price we’ve tracked but still $11 off the stick’s average going rate in recent months. Also at Target, B&H, Best Buy and others. Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max for $33 at Amazon ($27 off): This is a new low for Amazon’s best streaming stick, which runs fast and supports all the major apps and HDR formats. We’ve found it to be surprisingly flexible as a gaming device, too, though you’ll have to put up with an ad-heavy UI that promotes Prime Video and other Amazon services above all else. Also at Target, Best Buy and others. Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K for $22 at Amazon ($28 off): The standard Fire TV Stick 4K offers the same core experience as the pricier 4K Max — for better or worse — but comes with a slightly slower processor, half as much storage (8GB) and Wi-Fi 6 instead of the faster Wi-Fi 6E. Still, this is a decent value if you just want a competent 4K streamer for as little as possible. This deal is another all-time low. Also at Target, Best Buy and others. Roku Ultra (2024) for $79 at Amazon ($21 off): The Roku Ultra is overkill for most people, but it might be worth it if you like Roku's simpler UI and need a full-on set-top box with built-in Ethernet and USB ports. Unlike the Roku Streaming Stick 4K, it comes bundled with a rechargeable remote that supports voice controls, a lost remote finder tool and backlit buttons. (You can buy that separately, though.) This latest model added a faster processor and Wi-Fi 6 support. This discount ties the lowest price we’ve tracked. Also at Roku, B&H and others. The Roku Ultra.Will Lipman Photography for Engadget Hulu 1-year subscription for $12 at Hulu ($108 off, new and returning users only): One of the older streaming services, Hulu still offers a wide range of recent TV episodes and a strong library of original series likeOnly Murders in the Building, The Bear, Pen15 and The Handmaid’s Tale. This is a superb deal for the service’s ad-based tier, as it gives a year-long subscription for only $1 per month. That’s a 90 percent discount. Alternatively, you can bundle the service with a year of Disney+'s ad-supported plan for $3 per month ($36 total). Normally, that'd cost $11 per month. The catch is that both offers are only available to new and returning users who haven’t subscribed in the last month. Both subscriptions will also auto-renew by default, so you’ll have to cancel manually if you don’t want to pay beyond the discounted period. Peacock Premium 1-year subscription for $20 at Peacock ($60 off, new and returning users only): Peacock isn’t exactly essential, but it should be worth adding to your streaming rotation if you’re big into NBC and Bravo shows, Premier League soccer, WWE events or Sunday Night Football. This is a sizable discount on the service’s ad-supported tier, though it’s only available to new or returning subscribers. Those folks can also get a six-month trial for $2 per month, which works out to a $36 discount. If you don’t see the price drop at checkout, use the code REALDEAL for the one-year promo or REALDEALMONTHLY for the six-month one. Note that the service will auto-renew by default. Max 6-month subscription for $18 at Max ($42 off, new and returning users only): If you’re looking to binge The Sopranos, South Park, The Last of Us or anything else from Warner Bros. Discovery networks like HBO, TNT, TBS and Cartoon Network, you’d get a Max subscription. There’s a fairly sizable movie selection as well, including several films from the buzzy indie studio A24. This deal gives six months of the service’s ad-supported plan for $3 per month ($18 total), but only to new and returning users, and only in the US. Normally, the subscription costs $10 per month. This is another one that’ll auto-renew by default, so it’s worth setting a reminder to cancel before the discounted period ends. Paramount+ with Showtime 2-month subscription for $6 ($20 off, new and returning users only): Paramount’s Black Friday offer isn’t quite as appealing as the streaming deals above, as it only covers a two-month subscription. Still, if you want to stream local NFL games, Champions League soccer or shows from CBS, Nickelodeon, Showtime and MTV, this is at least a cheaper way to see if you’d actually stick with the service at full price. This deal applies to either the ad-free or ad-supported tier. Again, it’s only available to new and former users, and the subscription will auto-renew until you cancel. Check out all of the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/the-best-black-friday-tv-deals-for-2024-save-on-sets-from-samsung-lg-sony-hisense-and-more-161445236.html?src=rss
Published: 2024-11-27 16:42:04
Apple's new iPad mini 7 is $100 off for Black Friday 2024
The latest iPad mini has only been out for a few weeks but it’s already seeing a Black Friday discount. Depending on the color option you choose, you’ll see the price has dropped from $500 to around $469, but all color options have a clippable coupon that brings the final price down to $400. That’s a record low for Apple’s latest small tablet. The iPad mini 7 boasts an A17 Pro chip and 8GB of RAM, and the base model comes with 128GB of storage. We gave this iPad mini a score of 83 in our review, feeling that it was a necessary update to the previous model from 2021. We reckon it’s the best small tablet around. The device has solid speakers and it still has Touch ID rather than Face ID. While we feel that the 8.3-inch screen is by and large very nice, it only has a 60Hz refresh rate, which is a bit disappointing. The internal upgrades are what really matter here though, as the iPad mini now has enough heft to support Apple Intelligence features. The Apple Pencil Pro works with it too. We found the tablet a great device to kick back with and catch up on reading, play some games and watch videos on. We think it’s very handy for messaging too. If the 2024 updates don't excite you, there are deals on the iPad mini 6 available now as well. All color options are down to $350, which is $150 off and the lowest price we've seen. Check out all of the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/apples-new-ipad-mini-7-is-100-off-for-black-friday-2024-125211519.html?src=rss
Published: 2024-11-27 16:33:48
Black Friday Apple deals for 2024: The best sales we could find on AirPods, MacBooks, AirTags and iPads
Between the ”Let Loose” iPad event in May, the iPhone 16 “It’s Glowtime” event in September and the Mac Week non-event in October, Apple has been busy releasing a slew of new iPads, Macs, Apple Watches, MacBooks and more for 2024. And now for Black Friday, many of those shiny new devices are on sale. Some of the best deals include the lowest price we've ever seen on the AirPods Pro 2 ($154) and a brand new low on the less-than-two-months old iPad Mini ($400). We’re seeing many more first-time discounts and all-time lows, as well as returning discounts on new and previous generations. And of course if you need to research before you buy, our reviews are linked below. Here are the best Black Friday discounts on Apple gear we could find, from retailers across the web. The best Black Friday Apple AirPods deals Apple has four models of AirPods right now: The AirPods Pro 2, the over-ear AirPods Max and two AirPods 4, one with active noise cancellation and one without. Apple has been doing a lot of interesting things with their headphones lately, making this a good time to dive in. Though the discounts for Black Friday look to be minor, it's better than paying full price. Apple AirPods Pro 2 (USB-C) for $154 ($95 off): This is a new low price for what we call the best earbuds iPhone users can get. Recently, Apple’s tiny white gizmos got even better with the addition of hearing aid features. They have a remarkably natural-sounding transparency mode, solid active noise cancellation and make a great go-between for Siri’s assistance. Also at Walmart. Apple AirPods Max (USB-C) for $499 ($100 off): Apple’s only over-ear headphones haven’t had a full revamp in a few years. When the iPhone 16 came out, Apple swapped out the lightning port for a USB-C connector and introduced new colors. While the overall design and build is a bit old at this point, they still deliver balanced sound in a premium package. Apple AirPods 4 (standard) for $119 ($10 off): Here's a minor discount on Apple’s newest personal audio device. They were announced alongside the iPhone 16 back in September. There are two versions of the AirPods 4, this is the standard version without active noise cancellation. Both have a redesigned shape for a better fit and offer an open ear design (as opposed to the closed-ear shape of the Pro model). We gave them an 88 in our review. Also at Target. Apple AirPods 4 (ANC) for $169 ($10 off): The new buds with ANC got a respectable 86 in that same review. We noted they had pro-level features like letting you nod or shake your head to respond to Siri’s questions and Personalized Spatial Audio with dynamic head tracking. Also at Target. The best Black Friday Apple iPad deals Photo by Nathan Ingraham / Engadget The line between Apple’s tablets and laptops is a little blurry at this point, especially with the release of the iPad Pro this year, which (at the time) housed the company’s most powerful chip. The iPad Air is our current pick for the best iPad you can buy and we were delighted by the iPad mini that came out just last month. The only problem is iPads are among the more expensive tablets you can buy. Hopefully these Black Friday iPad deals help out. Apple iPad mini (2024, 7th gen) for $400 ($99 off with coupon): This is a new low price on Apple's newest iPad. Click the coupon to save nearly $100. The iPad mini was just released this October right before the announcement of a few new Macs (the new Pro and Air tablet came out back in May). In his review, Engadget’s Nathan Ingraham called the mini a “necessary update to the best small tablet on the market.” Apple iPad (2022, 10th gen) for $250 ($100 off with coupon): This is a new all-time low price on the base model iPad. Some models are on sale for $279 on Amazon, and a few colors have additional coupons that bring the price down to $250. It didn’t get an upgrade during Apple’s Let Loose event back in May, though it did get a quiet price reduction by $100 to $349. Now Black Friday sales are bringing down the price even more. This is our current favorite budget iPad because it’s a capable tablet that’s great for casual browsing, streaming and gaming. It can even handle everyday productivity tasks well. Apple iPad (2021, 9th gen) for $200 ($129 off): Apple discontinued this model with the release of the new iPad Pro and Air models earlier this year. In what's likely an effort to get rid of current stock, the price is down to a new record low. The 9th generation iPad is the former budget pick in our guide to the best Apple tablets and will serve well as a casual browsing, streaming and game playing machine. Apple iPad Pro (2024, 7th gen, 11-inch) for $899 ($100 off): The latest iPad Pro came out back in May and, notably, was the first Apple device to sport the M4 system-on-a-chip. We gave it an 84 in our review calling it an engineering marvel and the best screen our reviewer had ever seen. It’s also our pick for the best iPad for power users. The only problem is it’s very expensive, but this sale helps a little. Also at Amazon. Apple iPad Air (2024, 6th gen, 11-inch) for $499 ($100 off): The iPad Air is the Apple tablet we recommend for most people in our buying guide and it earned a high score of 91 in our review. It strikes the best balance between performance, price and features of all slabs in the lineup. It has an M2 chip which is really overkill for casual browsing and gaming, but will ensure that your tablet is compatible with the latest Apple Intelligence tricks and demanding games. Also at Amazon. The best Black Friday Apple Watch deals Photo by Cherlynn Low / Engadget If you take steps or do a workout and you’re not wearing a smartwatch, does it really count? Of course, the Apple Watch is more than a fitness tracker, it’s also a shortcut to your iPhone notifications, a handy Siri portal and an always-on weather forecast. Plus it tells time. While they’re not cheap, these Black Friday Apple Watch discounts should help. Apple Watch Series 10 for $329 ($70 off): This is the lowest price we've seen yet on an Apple Watch Series 10. It is our top pick for the best smartwatch you can buy and has a slightly thinner and lighter design, a wide-angle OLED panel for better viewing angles, plus all of the watchOS 11 features that Apple recently released. Also at Walmart. Apple Watch SE for $149 ($100 off): Apple’s budget smartwatch hasn’t had an update since 2022. There were rumblings that we’d see an update with the launch of the Apple Watch Series 10 but that didn’t happen. But if you just need a reliable wrist companion for your iPhone and an accurate fitness and workout tracker, this will serve. This is a brand new all-time low. Also available at Amazon. Apple Watch Ultra 2 for $719 ($80 off): The Ultra model is big and has a big price tag to match, so this discount might help. It’s our Apple Watch recommendation for adventurers and athletes thanks to its specialized features like a depth meter, SOS siren, and dual frequency GPS for more accurate route tracking. The best Black Friday Mac and MacBook deals Photo by Devindra Hardawar / Engadget Apple held a quiet Mac Week at the tail end of October in which it announced the new desktop M4 Mac mini, the all-in-one M4 iMac and the M4 MacBook Pro laptop. The MacBook Air from back in March is still the model we recommend for most people Apple MacBook Air (2024, M3, 13-inch) for $844 ($254 off): Here's a new all-time low on the latest MacBook Air. It's our top pick for the best laptop for most people, and this model has 16GB of RAM built in — double the previous base amount so it can tackle the demands of the burgeoning Apple Intelligence. Also at B&H Photo for $200 off. Apple MacBook Air (2022, M2, 13-inch) for $749 ($250 off): The previous MacBook Air has a (still very fast) M2 processor and it’s our previous pick for the best overall laptop for most people. This is the 13-inch model with 16GB of RAM. This is a return to an all-time low. Apple iMac (2024, M4, 24-inch) for $1,150 ($148 off with coupon): Apple just released the refreshed iMac last month, but now the silver model is already on sale. It has the latest Apple silicon, the M4 system on a chip that gives it a speed boost and enables the new Apple Intelligence features in macOS Sequoia. Also at B&H Photo for $100 off. Apple MacBook Pro (2024, M4 Pro, 14-inch) for $1,400 ($199 off with coupon): The main update Apple gave to its most powerful laptops is the faster than ever M4 chip. Not much else changed, but that’s not a bad thing as the Pros are excellent machines that we recommend to pro users. They have enough power to handle even the most demanding video, audio and any other productivity tasks you can throw at it. The best Black Friday deals on Apple gear Apple Apple AirTags (four-pack) for $73 ($27 off): These are the Bluetooth trackers we recommend if you have an iPhone. They allow you to keep track of your keys, wallet and other belongings using the Find My app and nearly every other nearby iPhone. Note that you’ll need an AirTag holder or case to use them with your keys and a new generation is rumored for next year. The record low for the four pack was $70 which we saw earlier this month, this deal is a few dollars more. Also at Walmart. Apple Pencil Pro for $99 ($30 off): It’s true that you may need a roadmap to help you figure out which stylus is compatible with which iPad. The Pro is the newest Apple Pencil and it’ll work with the newest iPad Air and Pro models and adds haptic feedback, squeeze and barrel roll movements to the mix of features. The all-time low was $90, but this is still a decent deal. Also at Amazon. Apple Pencil (2nd gen, USB-C) for $69 ($10 off): The USB-C Apple Pencil was released late last year and effectively serves as Apple's "budget" stylus. It works with the widest range of Apple tablets, though not all of them so check before you buy. This is about $4 more than the all-time low. Also at Walmart. Apple Pencil tips (4-pack) for $12 ($7 off): Search for Apple Pencil replacement tips and you'll find plenty of third party manufacturers with options available. But this is one of the areas where I think it's best to go with the original manufacturer. I bought these tips and they've served well — I just wish I'd paid $12 instead of $19. Apple Magic Mouse (Black) for $80 ($19 off): The black model of Apple's popular mouse has an updated USB-C charging port but, confoundingly, it's still on the bottom where you can't use it while recharging. Still a charge will last for about month and it should reliably connect to any iPad or Mac you own. Expired Apple Black Friday deals Apple Mac mini (2024, M4) for $500 ($99 off with coupon): Use the coupon to get the full deal as this is a first-time low on Apple’s $599 example of good things, small packages. The five-inch by five-inch box can tackle some serious workloads and remains the most affordable entry point to accessing Apple’s latest silicon. We gave it a solid score of 90 in our review, praising the incredibly fast M4 chip and useful ports. Also at B&H Photo for $560. Check out all of the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/black-friday-apple-deals-for-2024-the-best-sales-we-could-find-on-airpods-macbooks-airtags-and-ipads-165143431.html?src=rss
Published: 2024-11-27 16:26:41
PlayStation Black Friday deals include the PS VR2 Horizon Call of the Mountain bundle for $200 off
Here’s some good news for those who haven’t pulled the trigger on Sony’s latest VR headset. The PlayStation VR2 is on sale for $350 as part of a Black Friday deal, and it’s a bundle that includes the critically-acclaimed spin-off Horizon Call of the Mountain. This is a record low price for the headset, and that’s without a game that normally costs $60. In other words, this is one heck of a great deal. We enjoyed this headset and gave it high marks in our official review. The OLED displays are excellent, so the graphics are on point. The headset’s fit is comfortable and it includes built-in haptics for increased immersion. Haptics for your head? That’s a pretty novel concept. The headset also includes eye tracking technology and ships with two dedicated controllers, one for each hand. The company’s Sense controllers are eerily similar to Meta Quest controllers, with a large tracking ring, analog sticks, face buttons, triggers and grip buttons. As for Horizon Call of the Mountain, it’s a new entry in the beloved Horizon franchise, only in VR. There’s a whole lot of climbing, as indicated by the title, but also a refined bow and arrow mechanic that feels just right in virtual space. We hesitated to recommend this headset to everyone at its original price of $550, but it’s a no-brainer at $350. This deal is also available through Sony, if Amazon isn’t your bag. So what’s the catch? There’s only one. This isn’t a standalone headset. It requires a PS5 to work, though Sony did recently release an adapter that lets it connect to a PC. Check out all of the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/playstation-black-friday-deals-include-the-ps-vr2-horizon-call-of-the-mountain-bundle-for-200-off-174513723.html?src=rss
Published: 2024-11-27 16:16:52
PlayStation Black Friday deals bring the DualSense wireless controller down to $54
If you’re looking to stock up on PS5 controllers, now is the time. There’s an early Black Friday deal that discounts the wireless DualSense controller down to $54 at various retailers including Amazon, Target and Best Buy. These gamepads typically cost between $75 and $80, so this is quite the sale. Even better? The deal applies to a whole bunch of colorways to suit whatever wacky aesthetic you got going on, though some colors are selling for a bit more at $60. A brand-new PS5 ships with one of these controllers, but you need two to enjoy some sweet couch co-op. We called out the gamepad in our official review of the PS5, saying it had “some of the most advanced haptic controls” we’ve ever experienced. The analog triggers can be manipulated to emulate various sensations, like pulling an arrow back or running out of ammo with a gun. It’s a gimmick, sure, but a fun one. The built-in haptics also allow for more realistic rumble, which is heads and shoulders above what the DualShock 4 offered. There’s a built-in microphone, a headphone jack, a tried-and-true button layout and a pair of joysticks. It’s a really well-designed controller. It’s a DualSense. It is not, however, a DualSense Edge. That’s Sony’s ultra-premium controller that costs nearly $200. That one offers extra features like easy button remapping, multiple joystick nubs, customizable rear paddles and more. Check out all of the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/playstation-black-friday-deals-bring-the-dualsense-wireless-controller-down-to-54-081313984.html?src=rss
Published: 2024-11-27 16:15:22
Black Friday PlayStation deals: Grab the PS5 Slim console for $75 off
Remember when it was nearly impossible to get your hands on a PS5? Those days are basically over now, which is only a good thing for gamers and those looking to get the console for the first time. Black Friday deals have even discounted the PS5 this year: PS5 Slim is available for $75 off at Amazon, Walmart, Target, Sony and other retailers. You can get the digital edition for $374, or the disc-based model for $424. While we wouldn’t call this a budget console, these deals make it just a bit more affordable and an ideal time to see what all the PS5 fuss is about if you don’t have one yet. Despite the moniker, there’s nothing slim about the specs. This is a regular PS5, with the same horsepower as the original unit. However, the PS5 Slim is 30 percent smaller and around 25 percent lighter. When it comes to tech, smaller is typically a good thing. Both versions ship with a DualSense controller and a 1TB SSD. These consoles also come with Astro’s Playroom pre-installed, which is the precursor to the incredible Astro Bot. They don’t, however, come with a vertical stand. That’ll cost extra. The digital-only model, obviously, doesn’t ship with a disc drive, though there’s a standalone drive available for those who would rather make that decision later. Otherwise, this is a PS5. There’s no other way (right now) to play games like Marvel's Spider-Man 2 and The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered. It also runs cross-platform hits like Star Wars Outlaws and Elden Ring, in addition to pseudo-exclusives that made their way to PC like God of War Ragnarök. This sale is not for the recently-released PS5 Pro, so you won’t get all of those graphical upscaling bells and whistles. However, that new console is a whopping $700, whereas these PS5 Slim consoles are just over half that. And we'd be remiss if we didn't also mention the sale happening on DualSense Wireless Controllers that work with PS5 consoles; you can pick them up starting at just $54 a piece at Amazon and Sony. Check out all of the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/black-friday-playstation-deals-grab-the-ps5-slim-console-for-75-off-080645679.html?src=rss
Published: 2024-11-27 16:13:34
The Apple Watch Series 10 is on sale for a record-low price ahead of Black Friday
Apple devices are some of the most sought after this time of year and, believe it or not, you can find some decent Black Friday deals on them if you know where to look. At the moment, one such deal is on the Apple Watch Series 10: Apple’s newest wearable is on sale for $329, which is $70 off and a record low. That price is for the smaller 42mm model without LTE functionality, and the 46mm size is also $70 off and down to $359. The Apple Watch Series 10 is our pick for the best smartwatch overall, but it's probably best to look at other options if you're an Android user. After all, you'll need a compatible iPhone to set up the wearable and get the most out of it. For Apple users who are after something a little simpler than the flagship model, the Apple Watch SE has also dropped to a record low price ($149) for Black Friday. We gave the Apple Watch Series 10 a score of 90 in our review. Apple redesigned the smartwatch to offer a larger screen and thinner frame, both of which were plus points in our book. The wide-angle OLED panel offers better viewing angles. The wearable has in-depth fitness and health tracking too, with new functions including sleep apnea detection. We found that there was a slight increase in battery life thanks to efficiency improvements, but some alternative smartwatches run for much longer on a single charge. Overall, this is a somewhat iterative update compared with the Series 9 and 8, but if you're upgrading from an older Apple Watch (or buying one for the first time), you may find the features, performance and charging speed to be impressive. Check out all of the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/the-apple-watch-series-10-is-on-sale-for-a-record-low-price-ahead-of-black-friday-180028748.html?src=rss
Published: 2024-11-27 16:12:04
The best Black Friday SSD deals for 2024 from Samsung, WD, Kingston, Crucial and others
Though Black Friday itself is still a couple days away, several retailers have already started their annual holiday sales. That’s means it’s a decent time to be in the market for new storage equipment. If you’re looking to get more out of a PC, tablet or gaming handheld, we’ve rounded up the best Black Friday SSD and storage deals we could find. Before you browse, keep in mind that storage prices have generally trended upwards over the past several months, so many of these discounts aren’t the lowest prices we've ever seen. Still, all of the SSDs, portable drives, microSD cards and other devices we highlight below are at least cheaper than they’ve been in several months. We'll continue updating this post through Black Friday as prices change and more deals spring up. WD Black SN850X (2TB) PCIe 4.0 SSD for $124 at Amazon ($66 off MSRP): The speedy SN850X is the top PCIe 4.0 drive in our guide to the best SSDs, so it’s a fine “default” choice for gaming or general use. This is far from the 2TB model’s best-ever price, but it’s the largest discount we’ve seen in 2024. If you’re buying for a PS5, a version with a heatsink is on sale for $9 more. And if you need (tons) more space, the 8TB variant is down to a new low of $550. Also at B&H, Adorama and Newegg. Crucial T705 (1TB) PCIe 5.0 SSD with heatsink for $130 at Amazon ($136 off): Most people don’t need to pay extra for a superfast PCIe 5.0 drive like the T705, but if you want the absolute best — and you have a compatible motherboard — its raw performance is almost unmatched. This is the lowest price we’ve tracked for the 1TB model with a heatsink. If you already have a compatible heatsink, the standard version is available for $10 less, which is another all-time low. Also at B&H. Crucial P3 (2TB) PCIe 3.0 SSD for $105 at Amazon ($50 off): If you’re looking to upgrade an older system, the Crucial P3 is the PCIe 3.0 pick in our SSD buying guide. This deal is well off the 2TB version’s all-time low — it sat in the $75 range this time last year — but it’s the best price we could find since February. Also at B&H, Best Buy and others. The WD Black SN850X.WD Crucial X9 Pro (1TB) portable SSD for $80 at Amazon ($21 off): The Crucial X9 Pro is our pick for the best portable SSD, offering dependable performance for most everyday tasks in a rugged, compact design. The 1TB version fell as low as $60 last year, but this is the largest discount we’ve seen in 2024. It’s a similar situation for the 2TB model, which is down to $120. Also at B&H, Best Buy and Crucial. Kingston XS1000 (1TB) portable SSD for $64 at Amazon ($21 off): The Kingston XS1000 is the runner up in our portable SSD guide. It performs similarly to the X9 Pro across the board, but it’s not water-resistant, it doesn’t come with a USB-C to USB-C cable and it gets a little toastier with extended use. Still, it’s a great value. This deal comes within a dollar of the 1TB model’s all-time low. If you want something roomier, the 2TB version is about $18 off its usual street price at $102. Also at Kingston and B&H. Crucial X10 Pro (1TB) portable SSD for $91 at Amazon ($59 off): The X10 Pro is essentially a faster version of our favorite portable SSD, though you’ll only see the difference if you have a device that supports USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 speeds. This deal beats the 1TB drive’s previous low by a buck. Also at Crucial, B&H and Best Buy. The Crucial X9 Pro.Photo by Jeff Dunn / Engadget Samsung Fit Plus (256GB) USB flash drive for $19 at Amazon ($6 off): The ultracompact Fit Plus is the thumb drive we recommend in our SSD buying guide. It’s not crazy fast, but it’ll do the job for the basics, and it’s small enough to fit on a keychain. While not an all-time low, this modest discount brings the 256GB variant down to its lowest price since January. Also at B&H. Kingston Canvas Go Plus (128GB) microSD card for $11 at B&H ($6 off): We call the Canvas Go Plus a strong choice in our guide to the best microSD cards. Its sequential write speeds aren't the best, so it’s not great for recording video or downloading lots of media, but it’s close enough to our top pick otherwise. This is the lowest price we’ve seen for the 128GB version. Samsung Evo Select (2024) (256GB) microSD card for $18 at Amazon ($4 off): The Evo Select is our favorite microSD card in the budget bracket. Its mediocre write speeds make it less-than-ideal in a camera, but it should yield few complaints for most people just looking to add space to a Nintendo Switch or Android tablet on the cheap. We’ve seen the last-gen version of the card sell for less, but this is a new low for the “new generation” 256GB model, which brings the sequential reads more in line with the higher-tier Samsung Pro Plus. Also at B&H and Samsung. The Kingston Canvas Go Plus.Photo by Jeff Dunn / Engadget Lexar Professional 1066x (1TB) microSD card for $70 at Amazon ($19 off): It’s not a formal pick in our guide, but the Lexar Professional 1066x is a perfectly serviceable card for most storage needs that’s worth considering when it’s on sale. This is a new low for the 1TB variant. Samsung Pro Plus (1TB) microSD card for $90 at Amazon ($30 off): If you want a 1TB card and don't mind paying for better performance, the Pro Plus is the top overall recommendation in our microSD card buying guide. It tested faster than the Lexar card above across our benchmarks, with a particular edge in random speeds. That means it should play a bit nicer in a portable gaming PC or a device like the Raspberry Pi, where it’d more frequently have to access smaller bits of data in random locations. This is a new low for the 1TB model, which Samsung released earlier this year. Also at Samsung and B&H. SanDisk Ultra (1.5TB) microSD card for $89 at Amazon ($21 off): The Ultra is slower than the cards we recommend in our buying guide, particularly when it comes to write speeds, so you won’t want to stress it too hard with large file transfers. But if you don’t really care about raw performance and want a huge chunk of space for as little cash as possible, it should be fine enough. This deal comes within a couple bucks of the 1.5TB model’s lowest-ever price. Also at SanDisk and B&H. The WD Black C50.WD Crucial P310 (1TB) M.2 2230 SSD for $70 at Amazon ($102 off): The P310 is a small-size SSD you can slot into compact devices like the Steam Deck or Microsoft’s Surface notebooks. It uses cheaper QLC memory, not the faster and more durable TLC, but other reviews suggest that it still performs well for what it is. This is a new low for the 1TB model. The 2TB version is down to its best price yet at $140 as well. Also at Crucial and B&H. WD Black C50 Expansion Card for Xbox (1TB) for $99 at Amazon ($59 off): It’s aggravating, but the only way to fully increase the storage of an Xbox Series X/S is to use a proprietary expansion card. Only two of those currently exist, but the C50 is one, and this discount drops the 1TB model to a new low. It’s normally sold for about $40 more in recent months. Is this still expensive compared to many SSDs with the same capacity? Sure. But any extra savings should be welcome. A 512GB model is a couple bucks above its all-time low at $68 as well. Also at B&H and Best Buy. Seagate Storage Expansion Card for Xbox Series X/S (2TB) for $193 at Amazon ($167 off): Seagate makes the other official storage expansion card for the Xbox Series X/S. This discount isn’t the best we’ve ever seen, and it’s been live for most of the month, but it’s still roughly $45 below the 2TB model’s typical street price. There’s little performance difference between this and the C50, so which is best merely comes down to how much space you need and whatever one costs less. Also at Best Buy. Check out all of the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/the-best-black-friday-ssd-deals-for-2024-from-samsung-wd-kingston-crucial-and-others-173947904.html?src=rss
Published: 2024-11-27 16:02:18
Lego Black Friday deals: Get up to 45 percent off with the biggest discounts on Star Wars and Super Mario sets
It’s not hard to understand why Lego sets are some of the most sought-after gifts for the holidays. We’re big fans of the building blocks here at Engadget, and we know they make particularly good gifts this time of year. Whether it’s a Super Mario starter set or a mammoth Star Wars collectible, there are dozens of Lego sets to consider shopping for right now — be it for yourself or for someone on your gift list. And no, you don’t have to spend a fortune to get a good set as some come in at $50 or less. These are the best Black Friday deals on Lego sets you can get this year.Most of these deals are on Amazon, but you can find the same (or similar) pricing direct at Lego and other retailers like Target. The highlights for Black Friday include a couple of Lego advent calendars: one for Disney fans and another that's more general for all kids. Lego makes a bunch of other advent calendars in addition to these, and we expect to see more of them go on sale in the coming days. There's also the beautiful Insect Collection, which when completed, includes three life-size, posable models of a butterfly, Hercules beetle and Chinese mantis. Even as someone who detests bun appreciate the elegance of this set and how striking they'd look sitting on a shelf. Star Wars, Super Mario and Harry Potter sets have been discounted as well. For example, this Star Wars set recreates the "boarding the Tantive IV" scene from Star Wars: A New Hope in which the Rebels battle Darth Vader and his Stormtroopers. This Super Mario expansion set includes a brick-built Bowser and his muscle car, and once complete, you can pull the lever on the car to make its hood ornament move. We'll be updating this post through the entire Black Friday and Cyber Monday time period, so check back for the latest offers. Black Friday Lego deals Lego Classic Medium Creative Brick Box 10696 for $25 (29 percent off) Lego Technic Planet Earth and Moon in Orbit Building Set 42179 for $60 (20 percent off) Lego Ideas The Insect Collection 21342 for $64 (20 percent off) Lego Super Mario Bowser’s Muscle Car Expansion Set 71431 for $24 (20 percent off) Lego Super Mario Adventures with Interactive Mario, Bowser Jr.’s Clown Car Playset 71439 for $40 (20 percent off) Lego Super Mario Penguin Family Snow Adventure Expansion Set 71430 for $11 (45 percent off) Lego Super Mario Yoshis’ Egg-cellent Forest Expansion Set 71428 for $7 (28 percent off) Lego Super Mario Piranha Plant 71426 for $48 (20 percent off) Lego Star Wars: A New Hope Boarding The Tantive IV Fantasy Toy 75387 for $44 (20 percent off) Lego Star Wars Droideka Model 75381 for $52 (20 percent off) Lego Star Wars: The Mandalorian Ambush on Mandalore Battle Pack 75373 for $17 (15 percent off) Lego Star Wars: The Clone Wars Coruscant Guard Gunship 75354 for $119 (15 percent off) Lego Star Wars The Mandalorian's N-1 Starfighter 75325 for $48 (20 percent off) Lego Star Wars: The Clone Wars Captain Rex Y-Wing Microfighter Building Set 75391 for $10 (23 percent off) Lego Star Wars Spider Tank 75361 for $40 (20 percent off) Lego Harry Potter Hedwig at 4 Privet Drive 76425 for $16 (20 percent off) Lego Harry Potter Hogwarts Castle Owlery Toy 76430 for $36 (20 percent off) Lego Harry Potter Hogwarts Castle and Grounds 76419 for $136 (20 percent off) Lego Marvel Dancing Groot 76297 for $36 (20 percent off) Expired Black Friday Lego deals Lego Friends Advent Calendar 42637 for $21.19 (36 percent off) Lego Harry Potter Expecto Patronum Collectible 2-in-1 Building Set 76414 for $56 (20 percent off) Lego Disney Advent Calendar 43253 for $20 (56 percent off) Lego Super Mario Nabbit at Toad’s Shop Expansion Set 71429 for $12 (40 percent off) Lego Star Wars: The Phantom Menace Mos ESPA Podrace Diorama 75380 for $60 (25 percent off) Lego Super Mario King Boo's Haunted Mansion 71436 for $60 (20 percent off) Lego Super Mario Peach’s Castle Expansion Set 71408 for $104 (15 percent off, plus $6 coupon) Check out all of the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/lego-black-friday-deals-get-up-to-45-percent-off-with-the-biggest-discounts-on-star-wars-and-super-mario-sets-150013022.html?src=rss
Published: 2024-11-27 15:29:39
The best Anker Black Friday deals: Get up to 47 percent off power banks, wireless chargers and more
Black Friday and Cyber Monday present great opportunities to get a bunch of tech for less, and some of the best deals you can typically find are on charging gear and mobile accessories. Anker makes some of our favorites in both departments, and this year a ton of Anker gear has been discounted as part of the Black Friday deals. Whether you’re looking for a new power bank to take with you on your next trip or a wireless charger to put on your nightstand, Anker probably has one that will fit your requirements. We’ve collected all of the best Anker Black Friday deals below so you don’t have to sift through them yourself. Anker Nano 5K USB-C foldable power bank for $16 (47 percent off): If you have an Android phone or a newer iPhone, this compact power bank is one of the best you can get. The built-in USB-C connector makes it so you do not have to remember to bring a cable with you, and it fits neatly under your phone while it powers it up. Also available at Anker. Anker 3-in-1 10K power bank with built in USB-C cable for $30 ($15 off): A top pick in our best power banks guide, this 10K brick has a built-in USB-C cable so you don't need to remember to bring one with you, plus it has an extra USB-C port for charging other devices. Also available at Anker. Anker 10K MagGo power bank with kickstand for $54 ($36 off): This is one of our top picks for the best power banks you can buy today thanks to its versatile capacity, speedy Qi2 charging capabilities, clear screen that shows remaining battery power and its built-in kickstand. The black model has the steepest discount, while the other colors are down to $60. Also available at Anker. Anker Prime Power Bank 200W with charging base for $110 ($75 off, Prime exclusive): This high-capacity power bank is one of our favorites thanks to its speedy charging performance, onboard display which shows how much juice is flowing to each connected device and the included charging station that provides a neat space for the brick to live when you're not using it. Anker MagGo 3-in-1 foldable charging station for $82.50 (25 percent off): This Qi2 charging station supports up to 15W of power output and can charge an iPhone, Apple Watch and a pair of AirPods all at once. It also comes with a 40W USB-C charger and connecting cable, so you get everything you need to use it in the box. Also available at Anker. Anker Soundcore Space A40 for $44 ($35): The Space A40 is the longtime top pick in our guide to the best budget earbuds, as it delivers the kind of robust feature set we expect from pairs that cost three times as much. Call quality isn't the best, and it won't auto-pause when you take out an earbud, but its warm sound, powerful ANC, eight-ish hours of battery life and comfy design all impress for the money. This deal ties the lowest price we've seen. Also available at Anker with coupon. More Anker Black Friday deals Anker MagGo Magnetic Charging Station, Qi2 Certified 15W for $56 ($44 off) Anker MagGo UFO 3-in-1 MagSafe Compatible Charger for $63 ($27 off) Anker 15W 3-in-1 MagSafe Wireless Charger Stand for $104 (20 percent off) Anker USB A to USB C Cable (2 Pack, 10FT) for $12 (30 percent off) Anker 20W USB C Charger with USB C Cable (2 pack; 2 chargers and 2 cables) for $12 (44 percent off) Anker GaNPrime Power Bank, 10K 2-in-1 Hybrid Charger for $59 (41 percent off) Anker 727 GaNPrime 100W Charging Station for $48 ($52 off) Anker 525 7-in-1 USB C Power Strip Charging Station for $36 ($24 off) Anker Prime 100W GaN USB C Wall Charger for $55 ($32 off) Anker Nano 100W USB-C Charger, USB-C Cable Included for $33 (40 percent off) Anker 25,600mAh 87W Portable Charger, bundled with 65W USB-C Wall Charger for $86 ($57 off) Anker Soundcore 2 portable Bluetooth speaker for $38 ($6 off) Anker Check out all of the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals here. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/the-best-anker-black-friday-deals-get-up-to-47-percent-off-power-banks-wireless-chargers-and-more-134553576.html?src=rss
Published: 2024-11-27 15:18:42
Black Friday subscription deals 2024: The best discounts on Disney+, MasterClass, Peacock, Audible and others
We typically think of Black Friday and Cyber Monday as good opportunities to save on gadgets and pick up a few gifts at a discount before the holidays. But those savings extend to subscriptions and services in addition to tangible gadgets. Whether you’ve been thinking about trying a streaming service like Peacock or want to invest in a VPN service like ExpressVPN, you can do so during this time of the year for less thanks to Black Friday deals on subscriptions. To make it easier to find the services you want and need this year, Engadget has curated the best subscription deals you can get for Black Friday this year. Best Black Friday subscription deals Amazon Kindle Unlimited for $1 for three month ($35 off): Amazon's ebook subscription service gives you access to a catalog of thousands titles for unlimited reading, select Audible audiobooks to listen to and included magazines to read. Audible Premium Plus for $3 for three months + $20 Audible credit ($64 off): This deal gives you one title for each of the three months you're subscribed, plus unlimited access to the Premium Plus library of books, podcasts and other. Anyone who's not already subscribed to Audible can get this deal, and you'll get an additional $20 Audible credit to use at your discretion. Disney+ Hulu bundle one-year subscription for $36 ($96 off): This Disney+ Black Friday deal gets you the ad-supported tiers of both Disney+ and Hulu (known as the Duo Basic bundle) for only $3 per month for one year. It's one of the best streaming deals of the seasons since it gives you the ability to catch up on all those classic Disney holiday movies, and the thousands of episodes of TV that Hulu has. Peacock annual subscription for $20 (75 percent off): The Peacock Black Friday deal is back this year, bringing the price of one year of access to the ad-supported tier down to only $20. Note that the subscription will automatically renew at the regular rate after the first year, and the deal is only available to new subscribers who are not currently paying for Peacock Premium or Premium Plus. Max 6-month subscription for $18 (70 percent off): This Max Black Friday deal gives you access to the Ads tier for $3 per month for the first six months, coming out to a total of only $18 for that time period. New and returning Max subscribers can take advantage of this. Paramount+ with Showtime two-month subscription for $6 (76 percent off): New and former subscribers can get two months of access to either the ad-supported tier Essentials or the Showtime tier for only $6 in this Paramount+ Black Friday deal. Essential lets you watch on three devices at once and provides access to over 40,000 TV episodes and movies, while the premium tier includes access to Showtime originals and ad-free viewing (with the exception of live TV). MasterClass Premium for $10/month ($10 off): Premium subscriptions, which include access for up to six devices and offline mode, are half off for the holidays. MasterClass' other subscription tiers are also discounted. Those who love learning and want to pick up a new hobby (or refine an existing one) can take courses with some of the best in their respective fields. Rosetta Stone lifetime access for $149 ($250 off): Those eager to learn a new language (or two) can get full lifetime access to Rosetta Stone for less for Black Friday. The one-time payment gives you access to the company's Dynamic Immersion courses, TruAccent speech recognition technology to help improve your pronunciation and the ability to learn on mobile and desktop. Adobe Creative Cloud for $30/month ($30 off): First-time subscribers can get half off Creative Cloud for their first year of membership, bringing the cost down to just $30 per month. This gives you access to Photoshop, Illustrator and the rest of Adobe's suite of apps. Headspace annual plan for $35 ($35 off): Our top pick for the best meditation app has tons of courses that address specific anxieties and worries, a good in-app search engine that makes it easy to find the right meditation you need and additional yoga routines, podcasts and music sessions to try out. Calm annual plan for $35 ($35 off): Another one of our top pocks for the best meditation apps is a great option for anyone new to meditation thanks in part to the many short and focused sessions it includes. There's also a dedicated kids section and subscribers get access to a soothing music library. ProtonVPN Plus two-year plan for $72 ($168 off): Our top pick for the best VPN is based on open-source framework and has a no-logs policy. Its easy-to-use apps are available on most platforms including iOS, Android, macOS, Windows and more, and some of them even include a kill-switch feature. ExpressVPN two-year plan plus six extra months for $150 (82 percent off): Our top pick for best VPN for travelers provides access to tons of servers and had some of the fastest connections of any VPN service we tested. In addition to a VPN, this subscription tier gives you access to an ad blocker and password manager. NordVPN Plus two-year plan plus three extra months for $121 (70 percent off): In addition to VPN access, NordVPN's Plus plan gives you a password manager, ad blocker, anti-malware protection and more. Check out all of the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals here. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/black-friday-subscription-deals-2024-the-best-discounts-on-disney-masterclass-peacock-audible-and-others-173037362.html?src=rss
Published: 2024-11-27 15:07:23
Black Friday gaming deals 2024: The best sales from PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo and others
Black Friday is typically a good time to restock on video games and gaming gear on the cheap, and this year is no exception. While the event itself is still a couple days away, several retailers have rolled out their official holiday sales over the past week. That means many of the season's better gaming deals are already available. If you want to add a few games to your backlog, pick up a new console or upgrade your desktop with new accessories, we’ve picked out our favorite Black Friday gaming deals below. We'll likely see more discounts by Friday, but the current sales bring tons of games and accessories we like for their lowest prices to date. The PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch are each $75 off as well, while the Xbox Series S is $50 less than usual. We’ve read through reviews and used price history trackers to ensure each offer below is a genuine deal, and we’ll keep updating this post through Black Friday as prices change and new offers pop up. PlayStation 5 (slim) for $424 at Amazon ($76 off MSRP): This isn’t the absolute biggest price drop to date for Sony’s console, but larger discounts have been extremely uncommon over the past year. You have a few different purchasing options, too. If you’re a Fortnite Person, you can grab a bundle that throws in skins and V-Bucks for that game at no extra cost. Walmart, meanwhile, has a separate bundle that pairs the machine with the recent RPG Dragon Age: The Veilguard or one of EA’s sports games for $450. Also available at Best Buy, Target, GameStop and PlayStation Direct, among others. PlayStation 5 Digital Edition (slim) + NBA 2K25 bundle for $374 at Amazon ($76 off): If you have no interest in buying physical media, you can save an extra $50 upfront by going with the PS5’s disc-less model. This bundle comes with the latest NBA 2K game as a freebie. If it runs out of stock, you can grab the same Fortnite bundle noted above for the same price. The console alone is $75 off as well. It’s a good price either way, though it’s difficult to get too excited given that the Digital Edition once sold for $400 before this “slim” revision launched with a $50 price hike. Also at Target, GameStop, Best Buy and PlayStation Direct, among others. The Nintendo Switch (left) and Nintendo Switch OLED.Kris Naudus / Engadget Nintendo Switch OLED + Mario Kart 8 Deluxe bundle for $275 at Target ($75 off, in and out of stock): To be clear, now is not a great time to buy a Switch: Nintendo has already confirmed that it’ll reveal the console’s successor at some point in the next few months and that the new device will be able to play current Switch games. So if you can wait, you should. But if you just want a more affordable route into the fantastic Switch library — or if you’re buying for a kid who doesn’t care about having the latest and greatest — we almost never see the OLED model fall this low. Besides the console, this bundle includes a digital copy of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and a 12-month subscription to Nintendo’s Switch Online service. Stock has been spotty over the past few days, though, so it may not be available by the time you read this. Also at Best Buy, but only in-store. Nintendo Switch + Mario Kart 8 Deluxe bundle for $225 at Target ($75 off, in and out of stock): If you want to save a bit more, you can get the standard Switch with the same add-ons for $50 less. The Switch OLED still has a larger and noticeably more vivid display, so it’s worth the extra cash if you’ll mainly play in handheld mode. That said, the base model can play all the same games just as well, and there’s virtually no difference between the two when they’re docked to a TV. This rare $75 discount is one of the largest we’ve ever tracked. Also at Best Buy, but only in-store. The Xbox Series S and Xbox Wireless Controller. Xbox Series S (512GB) for $250 at Xbox ($50 off): The entry-level Xbox has had a difficult time keeping up with the technical demands of some new games, and the 512GB of storage in this model can run out fast. That said, it still has value for casual players or Game Pass subscribers who don’t care about high frame rates and just want a cheap way to play the latest stuff. This $50 drop isn’t an all-time low, but it makes the console a bit more palatable. Just remember there’s no disc drive. Also at Amazon, Best Buy and Target. Valve Steam Deck (LCD, 512GB) for $337 at Steam ($112 off): The Steam Deck tops our guide to the best gaming handhelds. Its SteamOS software is much simpler to pick up and use than Windows, and it's still powerful enough to play loads of games that just can’t run on devices like the Switch. That said, it’s starting to have trouble keeping up with the most graphically demanding titles, and the design has always been rather chunky. This deal matches the lowest price to date for the version with an LCD display and 512GB of storage. The OLED model (not on sale) is better across the board, but this is a fantastic value if you can't pay the extra $200. The discount comes as part of Steam's Autumn Sale, which includes many of the game deals we highlight below. ASUS ROG Ally X for $700 at Best Buy ($100 off): The ROG Ally X is the top Windows pick in our gaming handheld guide. It’s better-equipped to handle recent AAA fare than the Steam Deck, and its 120Hz VRR display does wonders to keep those games looking smooth. Windows itself remains something of a UI tire fire on handheld devices, but it does give you the flexibility to play games from any PC client. This $100 drop isn’t massive but nevertheless ties the handheld’s all-time low. The Meta Quest 3S.Devindra Hardawar for Engadget Meta Quest 3S (128GB) + $75 Amazon digital credit for $300 at Amazon ($75 off): Meta only released the Quest 3S last month, so while this isn’t a cash discount, any sort of bonus is worth noting. Just clip the on-page coupon or use the code QUEST75 at checkout to see the deal. The device itself is the budget pick in our guide to the best VR headsets: Its older Fresnel lenses certainly aren’t class-leading, but they’re good enough for those new to VR, and the whole thing is just as fast and comfortable as the pricier Quest 3. Most importantly, it can play the same wide array of apps and games. Also at Target if you'd prefer a different gift card. PlayStation VR2 + Horizon Call of the Mountain bundle for $349 at Amazon ($251 off): To be candid, it’s difficult to widely recommend the PlayStation VR2: The hardware is excellent, but Sony's software support has been weak. Like the Meta Quest, you can use the headset on PC with an optional adapter, but some reviewers have said that getting that to actually work can be a hassle. So, we’re mostly noting this deal for posterity. But if you do have cash to burn and want to dive into games like Gran Turismo 7, Tetris Effect or the Horizon spin-off bundled here, this deal matches the lowest price we’ve seen. If the bundle goes out of stock, the standalone headset is on sale for the same price. Also at Best Buy, Walmart, Target, GameStop and PlayStation Direct, among others. The PS5's DualSense Wireless Controller.Aaron Souppouris/Engadget PlayStation DualSense Wireless Controller for $54 at Amazon ($21 off): While Sony’s official PS5 controller has sold for less in the past, steeper discounts have been fairly uncommon over the past year, so this is an decent time to stock up if you need a spare. The offer applies to several different color options, though a few are priced $5 higher than the others. Also at Best Buy, Walmart, Target, PlayStation Direct and others. Xbox Wireless Controller for $40 at Amazon ($20 off): This is another deal we’ve seen a few times before, but it’s a decent $5 to $15 off the Xbox pad’s typical street price, depending on which color you pick. Several different models are on sale, with some of the more vibrant colorways available for $45 or $50. Just remember that each one requires a pair of AA batteries or a separate pack for power. Also at Best Buy, Target and others. Nintendo Switch Pro Controller for $50 at GameStop ($20 off): Nintendo’s Pro Controller is far more comfortable to hold and satisfying to press than the standard Joy-Cons, so it’s a fine buy if you mainly keep your Switch docked up to a TV. Its 40-hour battery life is great, too, though fighting game and Tetris diehards will likely find its d-pad too imprecise. This discount matches the lowest price we’ve seen in the last couple of years. Also at Target and Best Buy. Nintendo Switch Joy-Con controllers for $60 at GameStop ($20 off): Between their beady buttons, lack of analog triggers and longstanding drift issues, the Joy-Cons are far from Nintendo’s finest product. Still, they’re the Switch’s default controllers. If you need to restock, this is about as cheap as they’ve been in recent years. Also at Target, Best Buy and Amazon. Astro Bot.Sony Interactive Entertainment PlayStation Plus 12-month membership for 30 percent off at PlayStation: Sony’s online service became a worse deal with last year’s sizable price hikes, but it’s still required if you want to play PS5 games online or use cloud saves. This year’s Black Friday deal is geared more toward upgrading than saving on your current plan, annoyingly, but those just signing up can grab an annual membership for 30 percent off. That brings the standard “Essential” tier down to $64. If you’ve been thinking of stepping up from the base service to the higher “Extra” or “Premium” tiers, you can take 25 or 30 percent off the usual cost of that upgrade. You can check Sony’s overview page for a refresher on what perks are included with each tier. Astro Bot for $50 at Amazon ($10 off): The wonderfully inventive 3D platformer Astro Bot is the closest thing the PS5 has to a modern Super Mario game, even if it is a bit too reverential to the PlayStation brand. Engadget Senior Editor Jessica Conditt called it nothing less than “one of the best games Sony has ever made” in her review. This is the game’s first major discount across retailers. Also at PlayStation, Best Buy, Target and others. Elden Ring for $20 at Amazon ($40 off): There isn’t much we can say about Elden Ring that hasn’t already been said. Its world runs almost unfathomably deep and feels lived-in (died-in) in a way few games ever have. It’s both haunting and darkly funny (hello, Ordina). It is unafraid to test your resolve and make its quest matter, yet it grants you the freedom to simply walk in a different direction and find new paths forward. It’s great, and this deal brings it down to the best price we’ve tracked. Also at Walmart, Best Buy and Bandai Namco. If you want to double up with the game’s Shadow of the Erdtree expansion, a copy that comes with that DLC is on sale for $52. Metaphor: ReFantazio for $50 at Amazon ($20 off): It’s about as subtle as you’d expect a game named “Metaphor” to be, but the latest from the minds behind Persona 5 is a fantasy JRPG through and through: bombastic, stylish and deeply earnest. (And long.) This deal is a new low. Also at PlayStation and Xbox for $2 more. Elden Ring.FromSoftware / Bandai Namco Final Fantasy VII Rebirth for $40 at Amazon ($30 off): Engadget UK Bureau Chief Mat Smith gave this grandiose action-RPG a favorable review earlier this year, and it’s one of the year’s highest-rated games overall. You need to have played its predecessor — and, ideally, the original PS1 game — to really get where it’s going, but it’s absolutely stuffed with things to do (for better and worse), and its combat system is still a rush. This is a new low for the PS5 exclusive. Also at Best Buy, or PlayStation for $2 more. Helldivers 2 for $30 at GameStop ($10 off): The co-op shooter Helldivers 2 straddles the line between Starship Troopers satire and genuinely rousing, strategically engaging action. You could do much worse if you want a multiplayer game you can hop in and out of at your leisure. This deal matches the lowest price we’ve seen for the PS5 copy. Also at Amazon, Target and Best Buy, or at PlayStation for $2 more. The Last of Us Part I for $30 at Target ($40 off): The PS5 version of Naughty Dog’s tense zombie drama may be the most unnecessary remake ever made, but if you’ve never given it a try, it’s still the best way to jump in. This deal is a new low, and it comes as part of a wider suite of discounts on first-party PS5 games, including Gran Turismo 7, Returnal, Horizon Forbidden West, God of War Ragnarök, Demon’s Souls and Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart for $30 a pop. Also at Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop and others. Dragon’s Dogma 2 for $40 at Amazon ($30 off): Another one of the year’s highest-rated RPGs, Dragon’s Dogma 2 is unusually opaque and unforgiving for a major-studio release, but it owns that. If you can deal with some jank and hate the glut of self-serious hand-holdy “adventures” that’ve come out in recent years, it should be worth the occasional frustration. Don’t bother if you didn’t like the first one, though. This the biggest discount to date for the PS5 and Xbox versions. Also at Target, or at Xbox for $2 more. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door.Nintendo Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door for $42 at Woot ($18 off): This is a new low for the recent Switch remake of the beloved GameCube RPG Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. Engadget Senior Editor Devindra Hardawar was pretty straightforward in his review: “It’s great, you should play it.” Super Mario RPG for $32 at Woot ($18 off): The lively and brisk Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars remains one of the Super Nintendo’s essential games. It didn’t necessarily need a Switch remake, but it got one last year anyway. Thankfully, the new version keeps the original’s oddball spirit in tact as it spruces up the visuals for true 3D. If you’re in the market for a lighter RPG, this deal at Amazon subsidiary Woot brings the game down to a new all-time low. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom for $30 at Walmart ($40 off): Its story may run in place at times, but Tears of the Kingdom remains a prime example of an open-world game done right. Its world doesn’t kowtow to the player at every turn, and its delightful contraption-building mechanics provide a similar sense of freedom in solving puzzles. This discount is a new low, though as of this writing it only applies to a digital copy. If Walmart runs out of stock, Target and Best Buy also have the game for $40, which is the second-best price we’ve tracked. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.Nintendo The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom for $45 at Woot ($15 off): The newest Zelda game makes a few bold changes to the series’ usual formula, blending the freeform spirit of Tears of the Kingdom with the top-down perspective of earlier 2D entries. It also puts the titular princess in the spotlight (finally). Engadget Deputy Editor Nathan Ingraham called it a “fresh and enjoyable remix of a classic Zelda game” in his review. This deal matches the lowest price we’ve tracked. Super Mario Odyssey for $30 at GameStop ($30 off): This ties the lowest price to date for Nintendo’s joyous 3D platformer, which combines pitch-perfect movement with a relentless stream of inventive design ideas. Also at Target and Best Buy. A few other first-party Switch games are at or near all-time lows well, including the adorable real-time strategy games Pikmin 1+2 and Pikmin 4 for $30 and $35, respectively, and the delightful action-platformer Kirby and the Forgotten Land for $35. Portal: Companion Collection for $5 at Nintendo ($15 off): Portal and Portal 2 are two of the most fully actualized games ever made, a pair of human-lab-rat simulators overloaded with wit and mind-opening puzzles. The second is also one of our favorite couch co-op games. This discount ties the lowest price we’ve seen for the Companion Collection, which bundles both games for the Switch, and it comes as part of a wider range of digital game deals at Nintendo’s online store. Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon.FromSoftware Mass Effect Legendary Edition for $5 at Epic ($55 off): The Mass Effect trilogy doesn’t hold up perfectly — the original is very much a game from 2007, while the overarching “morality” system feels ancient in a post-Baldur’s Gate 3 world — but it remains as accessible and deeply entertaining as any action-RPG series out there. The Legendary Edition remasters all three titles, and this discount brings the compilation down to its lowest price to date. The deal comes as part of the Epic Games Store’s Black Friday sale, which is otherwise light on standout offers. Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon for $20 at Bandai Namco ($40 off): Armored Core VI is a big loud action game about building a mech and using it to blow up everything in sight. It rules. Yet it’s not mindless: Its many boss fights are genuine duels, and it’s deeply flexible in how it lets you tweak your death machine to tackle stages in different ways. This price is another new low. Also at GameStop, Best Buy and Amazon. Unicorn Overlord for $30 at Amazon ($30 off): Unicorn Overlord’s story leans a little too hard on RPG tropes, but it’s gorgeous, and its battle system should satisfy those who pine for classic Fire Emblem or (especially) Ogre Battle games from yesteryear. Engadget Senior Writer Sam Rutherford called it a “must-play for tactics fans” in his review. This discount is the largest we’ve seen for the PS5 and Xbox editions, and it ties the all-time low for the Switch copy. Also at Best Buy and GameStop. Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol.1 for $19 at Amazon ($21 off): Few games take the responsibility of entertaining you as seriously as the Metal Gear series; even fewer have as clear of a voice and point of view. The Master Collection may not go as far as it should in updating the landmark stealth games for modern consoles, but if you’ve yet to give them a try, you really ought to take the ride. This deal ties the lowest price we’ve tracked. Also at Best Buy for $1 more. Cyberpunk 2077.CD Projekt Red Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition for $40 at GameStop ($20 off): The moody action-RPG Cyberpunk 2077 started as a technical disaster, but years of patches have ultimately left it in a healthy place, one that lets it more easily lean on its surprisingly pointed narrative and dirty-techno-future art style. This is a new low for the game’s Ultimate Edition, which includes last year’s well-regarded Phantom Liberty expansion. Also at Best Buy. Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth for $25 at Amazon ($45 off): Infinite Wealth is the kind of goofy, playful and wholly excessive RPG that’s come to define the series formerly known as Yakuza. It can border on “too much,” and you’ll need to have played past entries to get the most out of it, but its turn-based combat is fun, and it’s more endearing than obnoxious in the end. This discount ties the best price we’ve seen for the next-gen versions of the game. Halo: The Master Chief Collection for $10 at Xbox ($30 off): This matches the all-time low for The Master Chief Collection, which gathers five of the venerable FPS series’ essential games in one package. It also includes Halo 4 (we kid). Pentiment for $10 at Xbox ($10 off): Pentiment remains one of the Xbox’s true gems, a gorgeous and unusually soulful 2D adventure/visual novel that examines the nature of truth itself. This deal for the Xbox version represents an all-time low. Psychonauts 2 for $12 at Xbox ($48 off): Another entry on our list of the best Xbox games, Psychonauts 2 is a distinctly eccentric, wonderfully written 3D platformer that tackles heavy themes with real warmth. This is another all-time low. Several other digital Xbox games are on sale as part of Microsoft’s Black Friday sale. Halo: The Master Chief Collection.Xbox Game Studios Madden NFL 25 for $30 at Best Buy ($40 off): Madden could pretty badly use a creative reset, but it’s ultimately still Madden, so there’s fun to be had if you’re in the football mood and feel like denying Patrick Mahomes a championship in at least one realm of existence. This is the best price to date for this year’s latest installment. Also at Walmart and Best Buy, or at PlayStation, Xbox and Steam for $5 more. EA Sports FC 25 for $30 at Best Buy ($35 off): We’re not going to sit here and tell you the series formerly known as FIFA is good — AI defending is still a mess, and the Ultimate Team mode still blends grinding with gambling to mind-numbing effect — but we realize that many people just want to mess around as their favorite footy team. This is a new low for the PS5, PS4 and Xbox editions. Also at Walmart and Best Buy, or at PlayStation, Xbox and Steam for $5 more. The Switch version is down to $30, too, though it won’t run as well. WWE 2K24 for $24 at Amazon ($11 off): We acknowledge that this is a new low for the physical PS5 and Xbox copies of the latest WWE game, which should scratch the itch for most people looking to do some fantasy booking and digital powerbombing. Just don’t be surprised if you run into a few bugs every now and then; this is a 2K game, after all. Also at Walmart, Target and Best Buy, or for $1 less at Xbox. The last-gen versions are on sale for a few bucks less as well. NBA 2K25 for $30 at Amazon ($40 off): NBA 2K has its own longstanding issues with pay-to-win online modes and occasional glitchiness, but its on-court play is generally rock solid if you’re looking to play through a season or run some offline games with friends. This is a new low for the PS5 and Xbox copies of the game. Also at Walmart, Target and Best Buy. Nintendo has the Switch edition for $3 less, though that version is generally slower and more watered-down than the others. The WD Black C50 Expansion Card for Xbox Series X/S.WD WD Black C50 Expansion Card for Xbox (1TB) for $99 at Amazon ($59 off): It’s aggravating, but the only way to fully increase the storage of an Xbox Series X/S is to use a proprietary expansion card. Only two of those currently exist, but the C50 is one, and this discount drops the 1TB model to a new low. It’s normally sold for about $40 more in recent months. Is this still expensive compared to a normal SSD with the same capacity? You bet. But any extra savings should be welcome. A 512GB model is a couple bucks above its all-time low at $68 as well. Also at B&H and Best Buy. Seagate Storage Expansion Card for Xbox Series X/S (2TB) for $193 at Amazon ($167 off): Seagate makes the other official storage expansion card for the Xbox Series X/S. This discount isn’t the best we’ve ever seen, and it’s been live for most of the month, but it’s still roughly $45 below the 2TB model’s typical street price. There’s little performance difference between this and the C50, so which is best merely comes down to how much space you need and whatever one costs less. Crucial P310 (1TB) M.2 2230 SSD for $70 at Amazon ($102 off): The P310 is a small-size SSD you can slot into handheld PCs like the Steam Deck or ROG Ally. It uses cheaper QLC memory, not the faster and more durable TLC, but other reviews suggest that it still performs well for what it is. This is a new low for the 1TB model. The 2TB version is down to its best price yet at $140 as well. Also at Crucial and B&H. The 8BitDo Ultimate Bluetooth Controller.Photo by Jeff Dunn / Engadget Backbone One mobile game controller for $70 at Amazon ($30 off): The Backbone One is a nifty mobile gamepad that makes playing console-style games on your phone feel a little more natural. This matches the lowest price we’ve tracked for the second-gen model. Both the USB-C and Lightning versions are discounted. Note that the PlayStation-branded version officially supports Sony’s Remote Play app on both Android and iOS, while the standard model only supports it with the latter. Also at Backbone, Walmart and Best Buy. 8BitDo Ultimate Bluetooth Controller for $48 at Amazon ($12 off, Prime only): We’ve raved about this wireless gamepad for Switch and PC in the past. It’s on the small side, but it’s comfortable, and its durable Hall effect joysticks should avoid the “drift” sensation that plagues many modern controllers. This discount isn’t the absolute lowest price we’ve seen, but it’s a solid $12 off the device’s typical street price. It's exclusive to Prime members at Amazon, but Best Buy has the pad for the same price. If you don’t need Bluetooth support, a version that only connects over a USB dongle and uses Xbox-style face buttons (instead of Switch-style ones) is on sale for $40. The Turtle Beach Atlas Air.Photo by Jeff Dunn / Engadget Turtle Beach Atlas Air wireless gaming headset for $136 at Amazon ($44 off): The Atlas Air is our pick for the best gaming headset. It’s one of the few wireless pairs with an open-back design, which helps it create a wider, airier and more natural sound than most of its competition. It’s exceptionally comfortable on top of that, though it lets in and leaks noise fairly easily, so you should only buy it if you normally play in a quiet environment. This deal marks the headset’s all-time low. Also at Best Buy for $150. Astro A40 TR gaming headset for $90 at Amazon ($40 off): The A40 TR is our favorite wired gaming headset. It’s not quite as comfy or spacious-sounding as the Turtle Beach Atlas Air, our top overall pick, but its open-back design still makes games sound like they’re happening all around you instead of feeling confined in your head. Just know that it won’t block much outside noise, and its mic isn’t the best. Also at B&H. HyperX Cloud Stinger 2 gaming headset for $30 at Amazon ($20 off): The Cloud Stinger 2 is the budget pick in our gaming headset guide. It’s comfortable, with a solid mic and full-bodied bass, though you shouldn’t expect a particularly accurate sound or exceptional build quality. This deal ties the headset’s all-time low. Also at Walmart and Best Buy. The Keychron Q3 Max.Photo by Jeff Dunn / Engadget Keychron Q3 Max mechanical keyboard for $182 at Keychron ($32 off): The Keychron Q Max is the top pick in our guide to the best mechanical keyboards, pairing an upscale (if heavy) aluminum case with a lovely typing experience and extensive customizability. This is the lowest price we’ve seen for the tenkeyless model, but other size layouts are similarly discounted. Also at Amazon for $6 more, but only for Prime members. Keychron V3 Max mechanical keyboard for $87 at Amazon ($22 off, Prime only): The V Max is our favorite mechanical keyboard in the $100 range. It has a plastic frame and suffers a bit more from rattling in the larger keys but otherwise carries most of the same perks as the Q Max line. This Prime-exclusive deal marks the best price we’ve tracked for the tenkeyless model, but other size options are 20 percent off too. Also at Keychron. Keychron C3 Pro mechanical keyboard for $22 at Amazon ($15 off, Prime only): If you want to pay as little as possible for a decent mechanical keyboard, the C3 Pro is the budget pick in our buying guide. Its keycaps are a bit slick, but its typing feel and sound are still levels above the membrane boards you usually find in this price range. This is a new low for the model with Keychron's linear Red switches. Be aware that this version isn’t hot-swappable and only has a red backlight; if you’re willing to pay extra, Keychron sells a more customizable version with RGB lighting for just under $50. Razer Basilisk V3 gaming mouse for $40 at Amazon ($30 off): We recommend the Basilisk V3 in our gaming mouse buying guide for those who don’t mind using a cable and prefer a more ergonomic right-handed shape. We’ve seen this discount several times before, but it matches the device’s all-time low. Note that Razer released an revised version with an improved sensor a few months ago, but that one costs $40 more, and it’s not a massive upgrade in practice. Also at Target, Best Buy and others. The Razer Basilisk V3.Jeff Dunn / Engadget Corsair Scimitar RGB Elite MMO gaming mouse for $50 at Amazon ($30 off): The Scimitar RGB Elite is the top MMO pick in our gaming mouse guide. It has 12 customizable side buttons, which make it easier to pull off strings of actions in games like Final Fantasy XIV or World of Warcraft. This deal comes within a couple bucks of the lowest price we've seen. Also at Corsair and Best Buy. A wireless model with an upgraded sensor is also on sale for $89, which is the second-best price we've tracked for that variant. ASUS TUF Gaming A16 Advantage Edition (2023) gaming laptop for $700 at Best Buy ($400 off): Although it’s a 2023 model, this configuration of the A16 should do the job for value-minded buyers. It comes with a 16-inch 165Hz 1,920 x 1,200 display, an AMD Ryzen 7 7735HS processor, 16GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD and an AMD Radeon RX 7700S GPU. You’ll still have to deal with the usual trade-offs of a cheaper gaming laptop — it can get warm under load, it’s bulky, the keyboard isn’t great and the screen is somewhat dim. But it’s powerful enough to run newer games in 1080p, the chassis generally feels sturdy, and the battery can reach double-digit hours when you aren’t gaming. This discount is $20 above than the config’s all-time low but ties the best price we’ve seen otherwise. ASUS ROG Strix G16 (2024) gaming laptop for $1,615 at Amazon ($285 off): While not a top pick in any of our guides, this configuration of the ROG Strix G16 should be a solid value for those in search of a 16-inch all-rounder gaming notebook. It includes an Intel Core i9-14900X chip, 16GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 GPU, which should be enough to run many games at high-ish settings without much hassle. The overall build doesn’t feel cheap, and the 2,560 x 1,600 240Hz display here is both sharp and fast. The RAM and storage are user-upgradeable, too, though the battery life and 720p webcam aren’t ideal. This deal matches an all-time low. Another model with a 1080p panel, a Core i7-13650HX chip and a RTX 4060 GPU is on sale for a low of $1,100, but you’ll have to turn down game settings more frequently to get decent frame rates with that one. Alienware M18 R2 gaming laptop for $2,200 at Amazon ($500 off): The M18 R2 is an iteration of the top 18-inch pick in our gaming laptop buying guide. It’s an absolute tank, but it’s sturdily put together, and this configuration can blow through new games at high settings in 1080p or 1440p. It comes with a 165Hz 2,560 x 1,600 panel, an Intel Core i9-14900HX chip, 32GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 GPU. While this deal price is far from cheap, it's a new low for this variant. A lower-spec model is also on sale for $1,900, though that one will likely run into issues sooner with more demanding games. The Corsair Scimitar RGB Elite.Photo by Jeff Dunn / Engadget LG 32GS95UV-W 32-inch gaming monitor for $1,000 at Amazon ($400 off): This is a variant of the “no-compromise” pick in our guide to the best gaming monitors. It’s a premium OLED panel with a sharp 4K resolution and a fast 240Hz refresh rate, though it can jump to a super-smooth 480Hz if you drop to 1080p (and own a PC that can handle that). That’s great if you spend a decent chunk of time in esports-style games like Counter-Strike 2. Being an OLED monitor gives it excellent contrast with deep black tones, though it’s not quite as vivid as the handful of QD-OLED monitors that use quantum dots to boost colors. Still, it’s well worth a look if you have cash to burn and know you’ll use the dual refresh rate modes. This deal has been live for a month but represents an all-time low. Also at LG and Best Buy. Compared to the recommendation in our guide, the only differences with this model are that it has a white finish and its built-in speakers aren’t as strong. MSI MAG 271QPX QD-OLED E2 27-inch gaming monitor for $480 at B&H ($210 off, backordered): This ties the lowest price we’ve seen for MSI’s QD-OLED monitor, which blends the high contrast and inky blacks typical of OLED displays with color-enhancing quantum dots. It has a 1440p resolution and 240Hz refresh rate, which should be sufficient for most, though like many OLEDs it’ll look better in dim lighting than a bright room. Also at Amazon or Best Buy for $20 more. MSI MPG 321URX 32-inch gaming monitor for $880 at Amazon ($70 off): The MPG 321URX (gesundheit) is a larger high-end monitor with a gorgeous QD-OLED panel, a 4K resolution and a 240Hz refresh rate. It also includes a KVM switch and a USB-C port that can deliver up to 90W of charging power. It’s definitely not cheap, but at its current deal price it undercuts its handful of competitors by a fair amount. This is another all-time low. Also at Best Buy and B&H. ASUS ROG Swift OLED PG32UCDM 32-inch gaming monitor for $999 at Amazon ($300 off): If the MSI 321URX runs out of stock, the PG32UCDM is an excellent alternative with a similar list of features. Some reviewers we trust say it can get brighter, too, plus it supports the popular Dolby Vision HDR format. This discount represents a new low. Also at B&H and Best Buy. Black Friday gaming deals that are no longer available Xbox Series X (1TB) for $448 at Amazon ($52 off): This is well off the lowest price we’ve seen for the higher-end Xbox, and there’s a chance we see alternative deals on Black Friday. It is Microsoft’s official discount, though, and any chance to save $50 is still worth calling out. Whether any Xbox is a must-have is another question, as Microsoft has put less and less emphasis on exclusives, but the Series X is still a nice piece of kit if you’re sold on Xbox Game Pass or just have friends who use the platform. Also at Xbox, Walmart, Target and others. Audeze Maxwell wireless gaming headset for $200 at B&H ($100 off): The Maxwell is another excellent wireless headset we recommend in our buying guide. It’s bulky, and it doesn’t provide the same sense of width as our top pick, but it still sounds fantastic, with ample bass, crisp highs and impressive detail. A nice mic and long battery life help as well. The headset isn’t discounted very often, so this coupon deal marks a new low. The price above applies to the PS5/PC model, but the Xbox version is also down to a new low of $230 with the same $100 discount. 8BitDo Retro Mechanical Keyboard (N Edition) for $60 at Woot ($40 off): While not a top pick in any of our keyboard guides, the wireless 8BitDo Retro Mechanical Keyboard is still a nice value for anyone looking to give their desk a more vintage look, since its keycaps and accents are inspired by Nintendo’s old NES console. It’s comfy for typing and hot-swappable as well, though the default switches are pretty noisy. This discount matches the lowest price we’ve seen. Check out all of the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/black-friday-gaming-deals-2024-the-best-sales-from-playstation-xbox-nintendo-and-others-144605664.html?src=rss
Published: 2024-11-27 15:06:14
The best Christmas gifts that everyone on your 2024 holiday list will love
This time of year has a lot of merry and bright things to be excited about, but it can be stressful if you’re stumped on what to get your mom, dad, best friend, coworker or kids’ teacher as a holiday gift. Whether you enjoy or dread buying gifts for people, it’s safe to say we all want to give our loved ones things they will enjoy and appreciate. But there’s a lot of noise, junk and bad deals disguised as good deals to sift through as we get closer and closer to the holidays.Allow us at Engadget to help you through it. Here, you’ll find all of our holiday gift guides collected in one place, so you can more easily find the best Christmas gifts you need this year. Are you looking for white elephant gift ideas? Are you struggling to come up with a good gift for the father figure in your life? Are you just looking for a good board game to pick up for your own family? We’ve got you covered with gift ideas for all of those scenarios and more. We'll update this post as more of our gift guides hit the internet, so check back for even more gift ideas throughout the season. Table of contents Best white elephant gift ideas Best board game gifts Best gifts under $25 Best gifts under $50 Best tech gifts and gadgets Gifts our editors want Best self care gifts Best gifts for gamers Best retro gaming gifts Best gifts for coffee lovers Best gifts for tea lovers Best cooking gifts Best tech toys for kids Best gadgets for your pets Best travel gifts Best gifts for remote workers Best gifts for book lovers Best gifts for music lovers Best gifts for photographers Best gifts for cyclists Best outdoor gifts Best gifts for moms Best gifts for dads More coming soon! Best white elephant gift ideas According to legend, the King of Siam would give a white elephant to courtiers who had upset them. The recipient had no choice but to simply thank the king for such an opulent gift, knowing that they likely could not afford the upkeep for such an animal. It would inevitably lead them to financial ruin. This story is almost certainly untrue, but it has led to a modern holiday staple: the white elephant gift exchange. These gift ideas will not only get you a few chuckles, but will also make your recipient feel (slightly) burdened. Read more: The best white elephant gift ideas Best board game gifts We could all use more time away from screens of all types and sizes, and board games are a fun way to do that and bond with friends and family. You can find plenty of unique sets out there now, from word puzzles to whodunnits to calming playthroughs that showcase the beauty of the little things in life. From games with giant monsters to those with haunted mansions, we’re sure at least one of our suggestions will be a hit with you and your loved ones. Read more: The best board games to gift this season Best gifts under $25 The most hyped tech is often also the most expensive: flagship smartphones, ultra-powerful gaming laptops, immersive VR headsets and the like. But it would be wrong to assume that those are the only pieces of technology worth gifting. You don’t have to drain your wallet to get someone a cool gadget that will both be useful and make their lives easier. We’ve collected our favorite pieces of tech under $25 that make great gifts and help you to stick to a budget. Read more: The 12 best gifts under $25 Best gifts under $50 We wouldn’t blame you if you try to do all of your tech shopping around the holidays. That’s when you can typically get the best sales, both on relatively affordable gear and (more importantly) on big-ticket items. But it would be wrong to think that only the most expensive tech is worth gifting. Since we at Engadget test a plethora of gadgets every year, we know that there are some hidden (and not so hidden) tech gems at lower price ranges — you just have to know where to find them. Read more: The best gifts under $50 that make great stocking stuffers Best tech gifts and gadgets Trying to find the right gift for an unabashed gadget lover during the holidays can be difficult, especially if you don’t keep up with tech industry news yourself. Fortunately, you’re reading Engadget.com, a site entirely staffed by people who spend all day figuring out what new stuff is and isn’t actually good. So allow us to help. We’ve rounded up some of our favorite gadgets and gear that just might satisfy the avid geek in your life. Read more: The best tech gifts and gadgets Gifts our editors want We at Engadget spend a lot of time thinking about the best tech gifts for anyone and everyone in your life. But during that process, we often can’t help but think about the things we’d like to receive as gifts. Here, we’ve compiled a list of gadgets on our staffers’ wishlists with the hope that it may inspire you to splurge a bit on yourself this year. Read more: The best tech gifts on our editors' wishlists for the holiday season Best self care gifts There are plenty of things you could get for someone that not only shows how much you care about them, but also remind them that it’s worthwhile to take time for themselves. And while there’s nothing wrong with an aromatherapy candle, it’s more fun to go beyond the obvious choices and look at what tech products could help your loved ones feel their best. Our picks include things like styling gadgets and grooming devices, but also less techy options like a hair turban and face masks. Read more: The best self care gifts Best gifts for gamers This year may not go down as one of the best years in gaming like 2023 did, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t a lot of great new releases. Between titles like Astro Bot and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, there were plenty of games to keep even the most dedicated of gamers busy in 2024. And if you’re shopping for one, especially as a non-gamer, it can be tricky to navigate what’s worth buying. We've got you covered with these recommendations. Read more: The best gifts for gamers Best retro gaming gifts A million new video games seem to come out every week, but for some of us, nothing beats the classics. If you know someone who is way into retro gaming but don’t feel like hunting through eBay and local shops for gear to add to their collection, we’re here to help. We’ve rounded up a few of our favorite gift ideas for the nostalgic gamer in your life, from video upscalers for old consoles to retro-themed books and artwork. Read more: The best retro gaming gifts for the holidays Best gifts for coffee lovers When it comes to making a great cup at home, coffee nerds are constantly learning and love to try new things. Whether the person you’re shopping for is a newly indoctrinated pour over lover or obsessive over every brewing parameter, we’ve compiled a list of the best gear for coffee geeks that you can get this holiday season. Read more: The best gifts for coffee lovers Best gifts for tea lovers Forget coffee — for billions of people around the world, a freshly steeped cup of tea is the best part of waking up. But with so many varieties and methods of preparation out there, it can be difficult to find the right gift for the tea lover in your life. So to help you out, we’ve put together a list of our favorite products, from kettles to samplers. Read more: The best gifts to buy tea lovers Best cooking gifts There are few things more rewarding than making good food for your friends and family. But after a while, it’s easy to get bored with the same tried and true recipes. And what better way to inject some fun into your favorite home chef’s routine than with a brand-new kitchen gadget? To help you find the right gift for the cook in your life, we’ve put together a list of our favorite kitchen gadgets across a wide range of prices and categories. Read more: The best cooking gifts Best tech toys for kids We’re all having a bit of a budget crunch this year, but the good news is that when it’s time to bestow presents on the young ones (or young at heart), you don’t have to break the bank. Our list of our favorite tech, science and design toys is stacked with items under $100, with plenty of reuse packed in so the fun can extend far beyond the holiday season. Read more: The best tech toys for kids Best gadgets for your pets In Engadget’s Slack rooms, our pets are high on the list of stuff we chat about — just behind work-adjacent tech stuff, insane current events, video games and food. We’ve bought plenty of high- and low-tech stuff to keep our furry friends fed, occupied, safe and happy and we’ve put together the best of what we tried here. Perhaps you’re shopping for your own very good boy or girl, or maybe you have a dutiful pet parent on your list — either way, the gadgets gathered here will make great gifts, according to the enthusiastic tail wags (or aloof meows) of our own fur babies. Read more: The best gadgets for your pets Best travel gifts Since the dawn of humanity, we have traveled. We’ve come a long way from on-foot journeys laden with animal hide satchels. But the goal of good travel gear is the same: Get you and your necessities to a destination in the highest level of comfort available. If you know someone who is always catching a flight, rides the train to work or is bravely embarking on a cruise, some new tech may just help them out. Read more: The best travel gifts Best gifts for remote workers There's a pretty good chance you know at least one person who works remotely in some fashion. While the WFH life has its perks — nobody likes a long commute — it comes with its own set of challenges, from lacking pro-level equipment to dealing with household disturbances. If you’re looking to give a gift to someone who spends much of their time in their home office, we’ve rounded up a few techy gift ideas that should make their days a little more delightful, or at least easier to manage. Read more: The 19 best gift ideas for the remote worker in your life Best gifts for book lovers There are few things better in life than getting lost in a good book — as any book lover will tell you. We have a few heavy readers on staff at Engadget and we all have opinions on the gadgets and subscriptions we think make the experience of reading even better. We've got gift ideas for those who prefer e-reading, as well as for the print-faithful — and of course, some book recommendations, too. Read more: The best gifts for book lovers Best gifts for music lovers Everyone needs a hobby, and chances are there’s at least one person on your holiday shopping list who fancies themselves a musician. Whether they’re a casual synth noodler, a guitar virtuoso or a singer-songwriter we’ve got recommendations covering a range of price points. Some of these even make a great gift for music lovers who have been considering making the jump to music maker. Read more: The 16 best gifts for music lovers Best gifts for photographers Whether that special person on your gift list is a photographer or content creator, a camera or accessory is always highly appreciated. And with technology in areas like autofocus and video quality constantly improving, it’s a great time to own a new camera. However, it can be confusing to sort through the latest models or find the best memory cards, backpacks, tripods and more. Fortunately, we’ve done the research and selected the best cameras at a wide range of prices, along with accessories that will help your loved one get the most out of their gear. Read more: The best gifts for photographers and videographers Best gifts for cyclists Other than a bike, helmet and a few emergency maintenance essentials, there aren’t many things a person needs to enjoy a bike ride outside. But having the right accessories can go a long way towards making the experience more fun, more safe and, ultimately, more rewarding. Our list of recommendations cover the gamut of things you can give to the cyclist in your life, from must-have safety accessories like bike lights, to more techie gadgets like bike computers. Read more: The best gifts for cyclists Best outdoor gifts The great outdoors can be enjoyed all year round, so we’ve compiled a list of the best gifts for the backyard lounger, patio napper or woodland hiker on your list this holiday season. We even offer help with items to improve your tailgate or next beach trip. With everything from grilling gadgets to drinkware and hammocks to splash-proof speakers, there’s something for everyone – no matter how long or how often they venture outside. Read more: The best outdoor gifts Best gifts for moms We don’t speak for all moms, but a brief and unscientific survey has confirmed one gift most moms will love across the board: Time. Unspoken for, unstructured, zero-obligation time. While we couldn’t find extra hours on sale anywhere online, we did find some gadgets and gizmos that help save time and others that make precious down time more enjoyable. Read more: The 13 best gifts for moms Best gifts for dads Many Dads aren’t known for being forthright about what exactly they want for the holidays. (No, “peace and quiet” is not an acceptable answer in this case.) If you’re shopping for a father who likes gadgets but you aren’t sure what to get, let us help jog your brain with these gift ideas. Read more: The 15 best gifts for dads Check out the rest of our gift ideas here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-best-christmas-gifts-that-everyone-on-your-2024-holiday-list-will-love-170018386.html?src=rss
Published: 2024-11-27 14:45:36
Paramount+ Black Friday deal: Get a two-month subscription with Showtime for $6
Black Friday streaming deals have arrived, and Paramount+ is included this year. One of our top picks in our best streaming services guide, Paramount+ has discounted two months of both its ad-supported tier and Showtime tier to just $6. That comes out to $3 per month for the promo period, allowing you to catch up on originals like Star Trek: Discovery and watch a growing selection of sports content. The deal applies to the Paramount+ Essential (with ads, usually $8) or Paramount+ with Showtime (ad-free, usually $13) tiers. Although the latter is the better value during Black Friday, remember you’ll get charged standard pricing after the two months expire. So be sure to cancel in advance if you don’t want to pay the full price after the promo ends. Paramount+ has originals like Star Trek: Discovery and Picard, Tulsa King (for the Sly Stalone fans) and Lioness. The platform’s sports content includes the NFL on CBS, UEFA Champions League, European League and NWSL soccer matches. The deal only applies to new and former subscribers, so you’re out of luck if you already pay for the service. Also, note that the sale only applies to monthly pricing, not annual subscriptions. Check out all of the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/paramount-black-friday-deal-get-a-two-month-subscription-with-showtime-for-6-203106884.html?src=rss
Published: 2024-11-27 14:44:07
This GoPro Hero13 Black bundle is $100 off for Black Friday
While it’s not Black Friday just yet, this GoPro Hero13 Black bundle just received a substantial price cut on Amazon. The bundle is also available on the official GoPro website at the same discount of $349, a $100 difference from its typical price — the lowest we've ever seen. The bundle contains a grip called The Handler, two Enduro batteries, two curved adhesive mounts, a 64GB SanDisk microSD card and a case to hold everything while on the go. Of course, the GoPro Hero13 Black is included. We’ve tested the GoPro Hero13 Black before, and it’s quite the improvement over its predecessor, the Hero12 Black. Its maximum resolution of 5.3K at 120fps coupled with Hybrid Log Gamma (HLG) makes it a compelling choice for power users. It also runs longer in both hot and cold environments, even when 10-bit video mode is active. For those who want to capture more footage, the Hero13 Black is rated for 1.5 hours of 4K at 30fps. The Hero13 Black is compatible with several GoPro add-ons like the Macro Lens Mod, Smart Motion Blur ND Filter 4-Pack and Anamorphic Lens Mod, all sold separately. The camera knows when you’ve attached one to it and automatically adjusts its settings to match. This function helps reduce the required setup time, allowing you to spend more time filming. Check out all of the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/this-gopro-hero13-black-bundle-is-100-off-for-black-friday-144338402.html?src=rss
Published: 2024-11-27 14:43:39
Max Black Friday deal: Get six months of access for only $18
Max’s Black Friday streaming deal gives you six months of one of the best streaming services for only $18 (billed monthly). The sale applies to new and returning subscribers. This is the Max with Ads plan, which usually costs $10 monthly, so you’re getting a 70-percent discount. Since the ad-free one costs $17 per month, perhaps that’ll make it easier to stomach some commercials before each episode of The Last of Us. The deal is only available in the US and will automatically renew during the six months — and beyond. If you don’t want to pay $10 monthly after the discount period, just remember to cancel before the renewal date. Max’s lineup has series and films like The Last of Us, House of the Dragon, Euphoria, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, The Penguin, Dune: Part Two, Everything Everywhere All at Once and Barbie. In addition, you get full series from HBO’s legendary archives, like The Sopranos, The Wire, Sex and The City, Game Of Thrones and Six Feet Under. It also includes current and old content from Warner Bros., A24, Adult Swim, ID and the DC Universe. The Black Friday deal lasts from now through December 2. Head over to Max and log in or sign up. Check out all of the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/max-black-friday-deal-get-six-months-of-access-for-only-18-165721872.html?src=rss
Published: 2024-11-27 14:42:12
Peacock’s Black Friday deal grants a full year of access for $20
Fans of random Love Island spinoffs rejoice! Peacock just dropped a doozy of a Black Friday deal. Customers can now sign up for a year-long subscription to the streaming service for just $20 or six months at $2 per month. That’s a discount of 75 percent, no matter which option is selected. The promotion is live right now, but ends on December 2. Peacock doesn’t have the name recognition of Netflix or Hulu, but it’s still home to plenty of good shows and movies. There’s a reason, after all, that the platform made our list of the best streaming services. Peacock isn’t just home to the aforementioned Love Island and other reality shows about love not set on islands. The streamer also airs some top-notch content like the AI-centric Mrs. Davis and the surprisingly-decent video game adaptation Twisted Metal. A Peacock subscription also allows access to SyFy shows like the underrated The Ark. Other worthwhile programs include Hysteria!, We Are Lady Parts and Killing It. There are a few little caveats. First, this subscription is the one with ads. Also, the offer is only available to new subscribers who are not currently paying for Peacock Premium or Premium Plus. Finally, it’s only available directly from Peacock, and not from third-party billers like Apple or Amazon. Check out all of the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/peacocks-black-friday-deal-grants-a-full-year-of-access-for-20-080004658.html?src=rss
Published: 2024-11-27 14:40:24
This Black Friday Meta Quest deal includes a free $75 gift card when you buy the Quest 3S
If you’ve been interested in diving into the world of virtual reality, Black Friday deals may have just what you’re looking for. Both Target and Amazon have a good deal on the Meta Quest 3S: the price is its standard $300, but you’ll get a $75 gift card with purchase. There's a lot to recommend the Meta Quest 3S for a virtual reality fan. In fact, it's our pick for the best budget VR set. Even if you're investing in a lower-range VR headset, you'll want to have plenty of software to run on it. The Quest 3S has a large app library and it can be used to stream games from a PC. While some headsets can be unpleasant to wear for very long, reviewer Devindra Hardawar found that wasn't an issue with the Quest 3S. And although it has made some sacrifices on the screen and lenses to keep the costs down, this set still delivers a strong, immersive virtual reality experience. The content included with any Quest headset purchase will help you get started in VR. Batman: Arkham Shadow is one of the most notable exclusive games for Meta's Quest 3 and Quest 3S, continuing the lineage of the Arkham game universe initially developed by Rocksteady Studios. You'll also get three months' subscription to the Meta Quest+ catalog of games. Keeping the subscription after the trial period will cost $8 a month. Or use that gift card and pick up a title to keep. Check out all of the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/this-black-friday-meta-quest-deal-includes-a-free-75-gift-card-when-you-buy-the-quest-3s-115856500.html?src=rss
Published: 2024-11-27 14:38:34
Black Friday Apple deals: The 10th-gen iPad is down to its lowest price yet
If you’ve had your eye on a new iPad, now’s the time to seriously consider that purchase. Black Friday Apple deals have arrived, and the 10th-gen iPad is down to its best price yet. Most models are on sale for $259, but a couple of colorways have an additional, clippable coupon that will bring the final price down to a record low of $250. Apple released the tablet back in 2022, but it's still our best budget iPad option for 2024. The 10th-gen iPad is only slightly thicker and heavier than the iPad Air. It looks similar to the iPad Air, too — the tablet no longer has the Home button that its predecessor did, and it has a bigger screen with smaller bezels. The device is powered by Apple's A14 Bionic chip, which was first seen on the iPhone 12 and is powerful enough that we could edit RAW photos in Lightroom when we tested the tablet. When we ran a test for battery life, we discovered that the model could play movies continuously for 11 hours and 45 minutes on a single charge. Unlike previous models with Lightning ports, this one comes with a USB-C port for charging. Apple moved its front-facing camera to its landscape edge, as well. The company gave it a larger display, measuring 10.9 inches, so it doesn't feel as cramped as previous models even with a lot of apps. While the iPad Air does have a better display overall with its lamination and anti-reflective coating, the 10th-gen iPad's isn't bad at all seeing as it costs significantly less, especially with this discount. Check out all of the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/black-friday-apple-deals-the-10th-gen-ipad-is-down-to-its-lowest-price-yet-130005921.html?src=rss
Published: 2024-11-27 14:37:31
Casetify's latest AirPods case is a giant Gundam head
Casetify has launched a new anime collection, this time based on the popular mecha series Gundam. And just like its collaboration with Neon Genesis Evangelion, its new collection of mobile accessories comes with an AirPods Pro case designed to look like a robot's head. Specifically, it looks like the head of the RX-78-2 Gundam, the mobile suit piloted by Amuro Ray from the first Gundam anime that aired in 1979. It is quite enormous and not easy to carry around, but the smaller RX-78-2 Gundam Hard Shell Case is, and it fits inside the 3D robot head along with your AirPods. In addition to what's considered the centerpiece of the collection, Casetify's Gundam's accessories include phone cases, wireless chargers and grip stands as well as MacBook and iPad covers. Their designs reflect the motifs of the RX-78-2 Gundam and the MS-06S Char's Zaku II, the mobile suit piloted by Char Aznable from Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin. That means you can choose from products representing the Earth Federation and the Principality of Zeon, the two factions at war in the original show. You can sign up to be waitlisted for Casetify's Gundam collection on the company's Co-Lab website starting on November 29. The collection goes on sale on December 9, but collaboration items tend to sell out quickly. It's probably wise to get yourself on the waitlist if you're looking to buy any of them, especially the 3D AirPods Pro case. Casetify This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/casetifys-latest-airpods-case-is-a-giant-gundam-head-143031904.html?src=rss
Published: 2024-11-27 14:30:31
The 50 Black Friday tech deals worth shopping right now from Amazon, Walmart, Target, Apple and others
Black Friday is right around the corner, but the days in which you had to wait for Black Friday proper to get good deals have long been behind us. Now, the holiday shopping season has grown to basically be the entire month of November, and that trend has stuck this year. We’ve been seeing Black Friday deals pop up across the web since the start of the month, making it a great time to shop for gifts or pick up things you’ve needed for yourself. In the tech space, Black Friday deals have come for a bunch of tech we’ve tested and reviewed including wireless earbuds, game consoles, robot vacuums and more. These are the best Black Friday deals we could find at the moment; we’ll be updating this post regularly throughout November, so check back for the latest discounts. Engadget's top picks Apple AirPods Pro 2 for $154 ($96 off): The best AirPods you can get right now, these offer a secure, comfortable fit, good sound quality and ANC, plus excellent transparency mode. Thanks to a recent software update, the Pro 2 earbuds can be used as hearing aids if the user takes Apple's new hearing test and it discovers mild to moderate hearing loss. Apple 10th-gen iPad for $250 ($100 off with coupon): The best iPad for those on a budget, this model has a modern design, good performance, a landscape-oriented front-facing camera and a solid battery life. It has also done away with the Lightning port in favor of a more modern USB-C port. Note that some color options are on sale for $279 and have an addition coupon that brings the final price down to $250. Also available (at $279) at Target. Apple Watch SE for $149 ($100 off): The most budget-friendly Apple Watch has all of the core features that the flagship one has, but lacks things like ECG monitoring. We consider it to be the best Apple Watch for first-timers, and anyone who's on a tight budget. Also available at Walmart. Apple Watch Series 10 for $329 ($70 off): The latest Apple Watch is our top pick for the best smartwatch you can get thanks to its slightly thinner and lighter design, wide-angle OLED panel for better viewing angles, watchOS 11 features and slightly improved battery life. We gave it a score of 90 in our Apple Watch Series 10 review. Also available at Walmart. Anker 10K MagGo power bank for $53 ($37 off): This is one of our top picks for the best power banks you can buy today thanks to its versatile capacity, speedy Qi2 charging capabilities, clear screen that shows remaining battery power and its built-in kickstand. The black model has the steepest discount, while the rest are down to $60. Also available at Anker. Anker Soundcore Space A40 for $45 ($35): The Space A40 is the longtime top pick in our guide to the best budget earbuds, as it delivers the kind of robust feature set we expect from pairs that cost three times as much. Call quality isn't the best, and it won't auto-pause when you take out an earbud, but its warm sound, powerful ANC, eight-ish hours of battery life and comfy design all impress for the money. This deal ties the lowest price we've seen. Also available at Anker with a coupon. Disney+ Hulu bundle one-year subscription for $36 ($96 off): This Disney+ Black Friday deal gets you the ad-supported tiers of both Disney+ and Hulu (known as the Duo Basic bundle) for only $3 per month for one year. It's one of the best streaming deals of the seasons since it gives you the ability to catch up on all those classic Disney holiday movies, and the thousands of episodes of TV that Hulu has. Peacock one-year subscription for $20 (75 percent off): The Peacock Black Friday deal is back this year, bringing the price of one year of access to the ad-supported tier down to only $20. Note that the subscription will automatically renew at the regular rate after the first year, and the deal is only available to new subscribers who are not currently paying for Peacock Premium or Premium Plus. Max 6-month subscription for $18 (70 percent off): This deal gives you access to the Ads tier for $3 per month for the first six months, coming out to a total of only $18 for that time period. New and returning Max subscribers can take advantage of this. DJI Osmo Mobile 6 gimbal for $89 ($40 off): The latest version of DJI's smartphone gimbal includes improved tracking and a new Quick Launch feature for iPhones that automatically launches the companion app in camera view so you can get to filming. Also available at B&H Photo. Bose QuietComfort headphones for $199 ($150 off): The latest version of Bose's iconic QC headphones, these cans have excellent ANC, a comfortable (if a bit dated) design, 24 hours of battery life and a quick-charge feature that will get you two hours of battery after just 15 minutes of them being plugged in. Also available at Bose. Meta Quest 3s + $75 gift card for $300 ($75 off): A recent addition to our best VR headsets guide, the 3S is our favorite cheap virtual reality device. It's comfortable to wear for long sessions, has fast performance and excellent controllers, plus it has a vast library of games and programs to choose from. Also available at Target. PS5 Slim Digital for $374 ($75 off): If you've been unable to get your hands on a PS5 until now, you can get a decent discount for the holiday shopping season. It earned a score of 87 in our original review for its speedy 4K gaming, minimal load times and excellent DualSense controller. Also available at Walmart, Target and Sony. The best early Black Friday tech deals Apple AirTags (four-pack) for $73 ($27 off): These are the Bluetooth trackers to get if you have an iPhone, and they allow you to keep track of your keys, wallet and other belongings from within the Find My app. Just make sure to pick up an AirTag holder or case if you plan on using them with your keys. Apple MacBook Air (M3, 13-inch) for $849 ($250 off): The latest MacBook Air is our top pick for the best laptop for most people, and this model has 16GB of RAM built in — double the previous base amount. If you're ok with getting an M2 processor, that 13-inch MacBook Air with 16GB of RAM is also on sale for $749. Apple 2024 M4 iMac desktop computer for $1,150 ($148 off with coupon): Apple just released the refreshed iMac last month, and now the silver model is already on sale. It has the latest Apple silicon, the M4 system on a chip that gives it a speed boost and enables the new Apple Intelligence features in macOS Sequoia. Will Lipman Photography for Engadget Anker 3-in-1 10K portable charger for $30 ($15 off): A top pick in our best power banks guide, this 10K brick has a built-in USB-C cable so you don't need to remember to bring one with you, plus it has an extra USB-C port for charging other devices. Also available at Anker. reMarkable 2 bundles starting at $529 ($89 off): Our top pick for the best E Ink tablet for most people has now been discounted when you pick up one of its folio cases and a marker to go along with it. The reMarkable 2 provides an excellent, distraction-free reading and writing experience, plus it has handy integrations with Google Drive and Dropbox. PS5 DualSense Wireless Controller for $54 ($21 off): If someone on your list already has a PS5 (or if that someone is you), now's the time to stock up on extra controllers. These have a comfortable design and some of the best haptics we've tried on any console controller. Also available at Sony. Xbox Series X (1TB) with extra controller for $490 ($110 off): This bundle includes a total of two Xbox wireless controllers with the Series X console, and the built-in 1TB SSD is a good starting point for most gamers. Xbox Wireless Controller for $40 ($20 off): This is another deal we’ve seen a few times before, but it’s a decent $5 to $15 off the Series X/S pad’s typical street price, depending on which color you pick. Several different models are on sale, with some of the more vibrant colorways available for $45 or $50. Also at Best Buy, Target and others. Seagate Storage Expansion Card 2TB for $200 ($160 off): Seagate's expansion card is one of the best options for expanding your Xbox Series X/S storage. A 2TB version has dropped to $200, its lowest price to date. It's one of our picks for the best Xbox Series X/S accessories. Also available at Seagate. Elden Ring for PS5 for $20 (67 percent off): Elden Ring is one of our favorites for most consoles, and you'll be hard-pressed to find it cheaper than this right now. It offers a rich, open world to explore and, depending on your play style, you can pursue a path as difficult as you want. Also available at Walmart. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom for $30 ($40 off): Its story may run in place at times, but Tears of the Kingdom remains a prime example of an open-world game done right. Its world doesn’t kowtow to the player at every turn, and its delightful contraption-building mechanics provide a similar sense of freedom in solving puzzles. If Walmart runs out of stock, Target and Best Buy also have the game for $40, which is the second-best price we’ve tracked. Lego Star Wars: A New Hope Boarding The Tantive IV Fantasy Toy 75387 for $44 (20 percent off): This set recreates the scene in which Darth Vader and his Stormtroopers battled the Rebels, and it includes seven Star Wars minifigures. Lego Super Mario Bowser’s Muscle Car Expansion Set 71431 for $24 (20 percent off): This Super Mario expansion set includes a brick-built Bowser and his muscle car, and once complete, you can pull the lever on the car to make its hood ornament move. Lego Google Pixel Watch 3 for $280 ($70 off): Google's latest smartwatch is down to an all time low price. This is the model we recommend for anyone with an Android phone in our guide to the best smartwatches and it earned an 84 in our review. It detects workouts quickly, has an extra long battery life and is one of the more attractive smartwatches on the market. The deal applies to the 41mm size with GPS only but the larger and cellular-enabled models are on sale too. Also at Best Buy and Target. Google Nest Indoor security camera (wired) for $70 ($30 off): Google's security camera can tell the difference between people, animals and vehicles while it's monitoring your home, and it supports 1080p video, night vision and two-way audio. Theragun Mini 2.0 for $149 ($50 off): This compact massager makes a great gift for a beloved parent or anyone else you think could use a little more TLC. It supports a couple of different head attachments that help relieve different muscles of the body and it’s arguably the easiest of Thergun’s devices to throw into a carry on or gym bag. Also available at Therabody. Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer for $280 ($70 off): One of our favorite air fryers, this machine does a lot more than just air fry thanks to its 11 cooking modes, and while it's larger than a typical air fryer, that means it can cook larger things like a full turkey or chicken. Kindle for $85 ($25 off): The 2024 base Kindle is lighter than ever before, and it has a 6-inch, glare-free screen with an adjustable front light, 16GB of storage, speedier performance and six weeks of battery life. Echo Dot for $23 ($27 off): This is one of the best smart speakers you can get right now thanks to its compact design, physical button controls that compliment voice commands and its solid sound quality for its size. Amazon Echo Spot for $45 ($35 off): This recently revived smart display is billed as a smart alarm clock, and it features a customizable screen, big sound for its size and all the perks for Alexa voice commands. You can also grab it bundled with a free TP-Link smart light bulb. Echo Buds for $25 ($25 off): These are one of our top picks for the best budget wireless earbuds you can get right now thanks to their comfortable design, pocket-friendly case, automatic wear detection, multi-device connectivity and, of course, built-in Alexa voice controls. Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max for $33 ($27 off): Amazon's most powerful dongle supports 4K streaming with Dolby Vision, Wi-Fi 6E and live picture-in-picture mode so you can see security camera feeds directly on your TV as you're watching a show or movie. In addition to being a solid streamer, it also makes a good retro gaming device. Ring pan and tilt security camera for $50 ($30 off): This security camera joined the Ring lineup only a few months ago, and this is the best price we've seen on it. It's part of a larger Ring sale that discounts home security gear by up to 50 percent. Blink Mini 2 (two-pack) for $35 ($35 off): The newest Blink Mini wired security camera came out earlier this year and it supports 1080p video recordings, a wider field of view than the previous model and improved low-light performance. It may be wired, but you can use it outside if you wish provided you have the separate $10 weather-resistant adapter. Photo by Jeff Dunn / Engadget Hisense U8N 4K TV (55-inch) for $698 ($402 off): The U8N is the next step up from the U7N in Hisense's TV lineup, so it should provide better colors, contrast and brightness across the board. If you don't mind buying a smaller panel for around the same price, this is another new low. Also at Best Buy. Samsung 55-inch The Frame smart TV (2024) for $898 (40 percent off): The latest Frame TVs can show art on the screen when you're not using it, and it has a matte finish to make it look more like a picture frame on your wall. Also available at Samsung. Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ for $150 ($70 off): Our top pick for the best budget Android tablet sports an 11-inch 90Hz display, a microSD card slot for extra storage and a hefty battery. Also available at Samsung. Shark AI Ultra robot vacuum with self-emptying base for $300 ($300 off): A version of one of our top picks, this Shark robot vacuum cleans both carpet and hard flooring well, has an easy-to-use app, a self-cleaning brushroll and a bagless self-emptying base that can hold up to 60 days worth of debris before you need to empty it. Dyson V15 Detect Absolute cordless vacuum for $550 ($200 off): This is our top pick for the best cordless vacuum you can get right now thanks to its excellent suction power, relatively light weight and good battery life. This model comes with a Fluffy Optic cleaning head that illuminates the ground in front of you so you can see where the most debris lies, and the pack-up includes three additional cleaning head attachments. Solo Stove Bonfire Backyard Bundle for $400 ($180 off): Solo Stove Black Friday deals include up to 30 percent off fit pit bundles that give you all of the necessary accessories to make the most out of your new fire pit. Alternatively, you can pick up the Bonfire fire pit with its stand over at Amazon for only $196. Audible Premium Plus for $0.99/month for three months + $20 Audible credit ($64 off): Those who don't currently subscribe to Audible can get three months of the audiobook service's Premium Plus plan for $1. Normally, the service costs $15 per month after a 30-day free trial. As a refresher, Premium Plus is Audible's upper tier: In addition to giving access the full Audible Plus library, it lets you keep one title from a curated selection of audiobooks each month. We wouldn't call it essential, but if you've been on the fence, this is a good way to see if it'd work for you. Just note that the plan will auto-renew until you cancel. Plus, you'll now also get an additional $20 Audible credit to use at your discretion. Amazon Kindle Unlimited for $1 for three month ($35 off): Amazon's ebook subscription service gives you access to a catalog of thousands titles for unlimited reading, select Audible audiobooks to listen to and included magazines to read. Prime members can get a different deal: two months for only $5. MasterClass Premium for $10/month ($10 off): Premium subscriptions, which include access for up to six devices and offline mode, are half off for the holidays. MasterClass' other subscription tiers are also discounted. Those who love learning and want to pick up a new hobby (or refine an existing one) can take courses with some of the best in their respective fields. Headspace annual plan for $35 ($35 off): Our top pick for the best meditation app has tons of courses that address specific anxieties and worries, a good in-app search engine that makes it easy to find the right meditation you need and additional yoga routines, podcasts and music sessions to try out. ProtonVPN Plus two-year plan for $72 ($168 off): Our top pick for the best VPN is based on open-source framework and has a no-logs policy. Its easy-to-use apps are available on most platforms including iOS, Android, macOS, Windows and more, and some of them even include a kill-switch feature. ExpressVPN two-year plan plus six extra months for $150 (82 percent off): Our top pick for best VPN for travelers provides access to tons of servers and had some of the fastest connections of any VPN service we tested. In addition to a VPN, this subscription tier gives you access to an ad blocker and password manager. Adobe Creative Cloud for $30/month ($30 off): First-time subscribers can get half off Creative Cloud for their first year of membership, bringing the cost down to just $30 per month. This gives you access to Photoshop, Illustrator and the rest of Adobe's suite of apps. Black Friday FAQs When is Black Friday 2024? Black Friday 2024 lands on November 29 this year. When do Black Friday deals start? We expect some Black Friday tech deals to start as early as November 1. Over the past few years, retailers have been kicking off the holiday shopping season earlier and earlier. This trend will continue in 2024, and you’ll likely find early Black Friday deals available online and in stores in the weeks before the actual shopping event. When do Black Friday deals end? Some Black Friday tech deals will end immediately on Saturday, November 30. But those will likely be few and far between. Along with starting deals earlier and earlier, retailers have also extended Black Friday deals past the day for a while now, too. In the tech space, we’ve seen many Black Friday deals in the past run through Cyber Monday. Where are the best Black Friday deals? There is no one place to buy all of the best Black Friday deals, but you can expect the big retailers like Amazon, Walmart and Target to have many of the same Black Friday deals available — both in the lead up and on the day itself. We also recommend checking direct-to-consumer sites like Apple, Samsung, Sonos and others to make sure you’re getting the best deal before you cross things off your list. Does Apple have Black Friday deals? You typically will not find cash discounts on Apple’s website for Black Friday, though it has offered various gift card bundles during Black Friday in recent years. You may be able to find local Apple store discounts on accessories, but Apple isn’t a retailer known for slashing prices on its products. However, you can find more traditional Apple Black Friday tech deals at other retailers like Amazon, Walmart, Target and Best Buy. Check out all of the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/the-50-black-friday-tech-deals-worth-shopping-right-now-from-amazon-walmart-target-apple-and-others-163039738.html?src=rss
Published: 2024-11-27 14:14:28
TikTok is limiting appearance altering effects for anyone under 18
In the last decade social media has gone from silly dog lenses to over the top beauty filters. The latter is at the core of a new initiative from TikTok — the company currently being sued in 14 US states for negatively impacting young people's mental health. TikTok is now taking a step to reduce young people's access to these appearance altering effects, with the platform announcing new restrictions on Tuesday around which filters will be available to users under 18 years old. TikTok is limiting anyone in this age group's use of "some appearance effects," a vague promise that's scope will determine if its to actually help young people or just TikTok's image. The company also plans to expand how much information each filter must have about changes to a person's appearance. Plus, TikTok is "refreshing" its guidance for creators in its TikTok Effects House around the impact certain filters might have — again vague, so we'll have to see if it's just talk or actually beneficial. Then there's the matter of finding and banning users under 13 years old. The company claims to removes six million accounts worldwide each month of users that it suspects are underage. Now, TikTok is also "exploring" how to use machine learning to technology to detect accounts run by individuals under 13 years old to then be sent to a moderator to confirm. A TikTok spokesperson confirmed to Engadget that the company will initially test this in the UK, while the filter restrictions and guidance should roll out globally in the coming weeks and months. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/tiktok-is-limiting-appearance-altering-effects-for-anyone-under-18-140006448.html?src=rss
Published: 2024-11-27 14:00:06
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