The living room is where most people spend a good chunk of their time when they want to relax, but most people’s home theater setup could use a little TLC. While you can drop serious money fast in this space, that doesn’t have to be the case. If you’ve got a movie-lover on your gift list, or someone who’s particularly hard to shop for, getting them something to upgrade their TV-watching experience is usually a set bet. Here are some of the best home theater gifts for this year, and no, not all of them cost a fortune.
Author Archives: Engadget
The 16 best gift ideas for the remote worker in your life
It’s the year 2023 and going to the office for work is no longer the norm for a lot of people. You probably know at least one person in your life who’s remote either part-time or full-time. Working from home has its perks – not having a commute being chief among them – but it’s not without challenges. Household disturbances are big ones, as well as poor lighting or simply the lack of professional-level equipment that they might have access to only in-office. That’s why we recommend giving them a gift or two that will help with those shortcomings. From noise-canceling headphones to an ergonomic footrest, here’s a list of things that’s sure to make their WFH life a lot easier.
Mooas Multi-Cube Timer
Logitech Lift Vertical mouse
Ember Tumbler
Sony WH-1000XM5
Logitech Brio 500
Echo Dot with Clock
Native Union Snap 3-in-1 Magnetic Wireless Charger
Grovemade Desk Shelf
Moft Sit-Stand Laptop Desk
Lepow Z1 Portable Monitor
BenQ Screenbar
Otterbox Fast Charge power bank
Keychron V3
Creative Pebble Pro
TickTick Premium
Armstrong Heart Leaf Philodendron
The best travel gifts for 2023
Be it for work or play, people are taking trips again, so now is a great time to upgrade their kits with new travel must-haves. If someone you love is taking their first serious trip in a few years, some of the things they used in the past to make shuffling through airports and hopping on and off trains easier may not serve them as well today. Below, we’ve curated a list of tech (and regular) items that all frequent travelers will appreciate. A good bag and a portable charger are essentials, while noise-canceling headphones and a good ereader can make the hectic parts of traveling a bit less stressful. These are the 15 best gifts you can get a traveler this year.
Sony WH-1000XM5
Kobo Libra 2
Roku Streaming Stick 4K
Nestout Outdoor Battery
Bellroy Toiletry Kit Plus
Newvanga travel power adapter
JBL Clip 4 Eco
Retroid Pocket 3+
Loop Quiet Earplugs
NuPhy Air75 V2
Logitech MX Anywhere 3S
Peak Design Packable Tote
Huckberry x GoRuck GR2 Slick Backpack
Sunski Seacliff Polarized Recycled Sunglasses
ExpressVPN subscription
ProtonVPN plans are up to 60 percent off in a Black Friday deal
ProtonVPN is running a Black Friday Sale on its VPN services, including a 30-month plan for 60 percent off, or $120 total. That works out to $4 per month for two and a half years of access, saving you $180 over paying full price. Proton VPN is our favorite VPN service and, unlike most VPN services that continually run promotions, Proton rarely hosts sales. Their email and other services are seeing discounts, too.
In our tests, ProtonVPN passed with high marks — but so did most of the other services. What sets ProtonVPN apart is its overall security and privacy safeguards. The Swiss-based company employs an independently audited no-logs policy and has proven they don't comply with law enforcement requests to reveal data. It's also based on an open-source code and discloses potential vulnerabilities through an official peer-review program. Plus, we found it easy to use.
While there is a free version, the Plus plan that's on sale grants access to more servers, with locations in more than 65 countries and lets you run the service on 10 devices at a time. Compare that to the free version which only has servers in three countries and protects just one device at a time.
It's worth noting that Proton’s Black Friday sale extends to all of its services, including Proton Mail, which we've recommended in our guides, and Proton Unlimited, which gives you access to VPN, Mail, Calendar, Drive and Pass, the company's password manager. The everything plan is down to $105 for the year, which works out to just under $9 per month.
Your Black Friday Shopping Guide: See all of Yahoo’s Black Friday coverage, here. Follow Engadget for Black Friday tech deals. Learn about Black Friday trends on In The Know. Hear from Autoblog’s experts on the best Black Friday deals for your car, garage, and home, and find Black Friday sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/protonvpn-plans-are-up-to-60-percent-off-in-a-black-friday-deal-153355317.html?src=rssThe best white elephant gift ideas for 2023
Whether or not you’ve heard of a white elephant gift exchange before, there’s a good chance you have the wrong idea of what it is, how it actually works and where the idea came from. According to legend, the King of Siam would give a white elephant to courtiers who had upset them. It was a far more devious punishment than simply having them executed. 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. Picking the right white elephant gift means walking a fine line: the goal isn’t to just buy something terrible and force someone to take it home with them. Rather, it should be just useful or amusing enough that it won’t immediately get tossed into the trash. The recipient also shouldn’t be able to just throw it in a junk drawer and forget about it. So here are a few suggestions that will not only get you a few chuckles, but will also make the recipient feel (slightly) burdened.
Clocky Alarm Clock on Wheels
KFC Fire Starter Log by Enviro-Log
LDKCOK USB 2.0 Active Repeater Extension Cable
Banana Phone
Galaxy Projector
Msraynsford Useless Machine 2.0
Lightsaber Chopsticks
MMX Marshmallow Crossbow
Friendship Lamp
FAQs
What is white elephant?
A white elephant gift exchange is a party game typically played around the holidays in which people exchange funny, impractical gifts.
How does white elephant work?
A group of people each bring one wrapped gift to the white elephant gift exchange, and each gift is typically of a similar value. All gifts are then placed together and the group decides the order in which they will each claim a gift. The first person picks a white elephant gift from the pile, unwraps it and their turn ends. The following players can either decide to unwrap another gift and claim it as their own, or steal a gift from someone who has already taken a turn. The rules can vary from there, including the guidelines around how often a single item can be stolen — some say twice, max. The game ends when every person has a white elephant gift.
Why is it called white elephant?
The term “white elephant” is said to come from the legend of the King of Siam gifting white elephants to courtiers who upset him. While it seems like a lavish gift on its face, the belief is that the courtiers would be ruined by the animal’s upkeep costs.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/white-elephant-gift-ideas-2023-130058973.html?src=rssThe 53 best Prime Day deals to shop while you still can — from portable tech to smart home gear
We're now getting close to the end of Amazon's second Prime Day sale event for 2023. Most of the deals we're tracking are still live, so you can still shop early for the holidays — or buy something for yourself at a discount. If you missed out on the deals from the company's Prime Day event in July, this year's "Prime Big Deal Days" sale has brought back many of the all-time low prices. Amazon even added a few brand new deals, just for October. We're finding strong sales on our recommended headphones, tablets, TVs, video games and many other gadgets. We've rounded up the highlights below, and we've been adding new offers to our list throughout the day. We'll continue to do so until the sale closes, so keep checking back. For some (but not all) of the deals, you'll need a Prime membership. If you want to shop some great Prime Day tech deals before the sale ends, here's the best of what we've found.
Apple AirPods Pro
The second-generation AirPods Pro have dropped to $189 for Prime Day. Apple made a ton of small but noticeable improvements to these models, so now they have better sound quality, noise cancelation and Transparency Mode. There remains no competition if you have an iPhone and live within the Apple ecosystem — these are the best earbuds to get if you fall into that category.
Apple Watch SE
The Apple Watch SE is on sale for $199 right now. It's the best smartwatch to get if you're new to the wearable world, or you just want a basic, relatively affordable watch that has all of the basic features you'd need. On top of comprehensive health and fitness tracking, iPhone notifications and dozens of fun watch faces, you'll get features like crash and fall detection, noise monitoring and Emergency SOS.
Apple 10.2-inch iPad
Apple's most affordable tablet, the 10.2-inch iPad, is on sale for $249 right now. It may have an old-school design, but it's certainly the best iPad for people on a budget and it has most crucial features you'd expect in an Apple tablet. It earned a score of 86 from us for its solid performance, sharp screen, TouchID-capable Home button and good battery life. The only major downside to this model right now is that it still sports Apple's old Lightning port rather than USB-C.
Apple iPad Air
The iPad Air is on sale for $500, which is $99 off the MSRP. Apple may refresh the Air at some point soon, but for now, we think the existing iPad Air is the best blend of price and performance in Apple’s tablet lineup. This model only has 64GB of storage, however, and its display is limited to a 60Hz refresh rate. We gave the iPad Air a review score of 90 last year. And it's our top overall iPad pick for most people
Samsung Galaxy Watch 6
The new Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 is down to $270 for October Prime Day, which is the lowest price we've seen since it came out a few months ago. You can't get a better smartwatch than this one if you have an Android phone (bonus points if you have a Samsung phone), and it's smaller and lighter than previous versions. Samsung brought back the spinning bezel on the Classic version, which is which makes the software's UI easier to navigate, plus it has improved performance and updated health and fitness tracking tools.
Kindle Kids
If you're looking for a good gift for a kid, the Kindle Kids edition is a great idea. It's basically the same as the standard Kindle (which we named the best budget ereader you can buy) with a few extras. You also get a colorful protective case, a two-year warranty, and a year of Amazon Kids+, which grants access to thousands of kid-appropriate titles and hundreds of audiobooks. Even more helpful for parents, the kids edition syncs up with a parent dashboard that lets the grownups set time limits, add books and track their kid’s reading progress. The Kindle Kids usually goes for $120, but now it’s $80 instead. That's $5 more than last Prime Day, but the lowest price we've seen outside of that sale.
Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids and Kids Pro
The previous generation of the Fire HD 10 Kids and Kids Pro are on sale for $120 each, which matches their all-time lows. Amazon recently launched new versions of these devices, so the company is likely offloading old stock here. Still, this is the version we recommend as the best pick for kids in our guide to the best tablets. It comes with a protective case that doubles as a stand as well as a two-year warranty and a free year of subscription to Amazon Kids+, which includes kid-appropriate games, shows and songs.
Apple MacBook Air M2 (15-inch)
The 15.3-inch version of Apple’s MacBook Air is down to $1,049 for an entry-level model with 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD. That matches the best price we’ve seen and takes $250 off Apple’s list price. The MacBook Air is the top pick in our guide to the best laptops, and we gave the 15-inch model a review score of 96 earlier this year, as it covers just about all of the things we look for in a quality mainstream notebook. Compared to the 13.6-inch version, it also includes a more powerful speaker system and a slightly upgraded GPU. The SSD in this base configuration is technically slower than the one in higher-capacity SKUs, but that shouldn’t be a major problem unless you’re looking to do more complex work. In general, you wouldn’t buy the Air for things like high-res media editing, though its M2 chip is still plenty powerful for everyday tasks.
If you do need more storage space, the 512GB model with 8GB of RAM is on sale for a low of $1,249. Variants with double the RAM are up to $250 off as well. Meanwhile, the 13.6-inch MacBook Air isn’t discounted on Amazon, but it’s down to $899 at Best Buy. That’s $200 off the notebook’s list price.
MacBook Air (M1)
If you want to spend the least amount possible on a new MacBook, go for the MacBook Air with the M1 chip. It's still part of Apple's official lineup of laptops, and we named it the best buy for students and anyone on a budget The base, 256GB base model is just $750 right now. That deal has been around for a while, but is continuing to hold strong during the October Prime sale. We gave it a high score of 94 in our review and called it "stunningly fast" at the time — keep in mind that the M2 chip is on the scene and the advent of the even faster M3 chip is imminent. But still if you need a laptop that will do the basics for a number of years to come, this is a decent buy.
Here are all the best laptop deals we found for Prime Day in October.
Apple iPad mini
The Apple iPad mini has dropped to $400 for October Prime Day. It's the best small tablet on the market right now and really your only option if you want a true one-hand-friendly iPad. It's powered by Apple's A15 Bionic chip and sports a Touch ID-toting power button, solid cameras, a good battery life and a USB-C port for charging.
Sony WF-1000XM5
Sony's WF-1000XM5 wireless earbuds are on sale for $278 for Prime Day, which is their best price yet. These are the best wireless earbuds on the market right now, and Sony improved upon it's already remarkable buds with a more comfortable fit, better sound quality and features likes adaptive sound and Speak-to-Chat.
Anker Soundcore Space A40
The Anker Soundcore Space A40 is on sale for $54, which matches its all-time low and comes in $25 less than usual. The Space A40 is the top pick in our guide to the best budget wireless earbuds, as it includes a host of features that belie its price: adaptive ANC, multi-device pairing, wireless charging, a transparency mode and up to 10 hours of battery life. Its audio quality and ANC aren’t quite as powerful as more expensive pairs, but both are more than effective enough for the money. Unlike many budget wireless headphones, its default sound doesn’t completely blow out the bass. Just note that its call quality is mediocre, and it lacks wear detection, so it won’t auto-pause when you remove an earbud.
Bose QuietComfort 45
The Bose QuietComfort 45 headphones have dropped to $230 for October Prime Day, which is about $80 cheaper than their usual selling price. These cans earned a spot in our best wireless headphone guide thanks to their comfortable, if a little dated, design, excellent ANC and balanced audio.
Google Pixel Buds Pro
The Google Pixel Buds Pro have dropped to $120 for Prime Day. The company got a lot of things right after years of making pretty standard earbuds; the Pixel Buds Pro are Google's best wireless earbuds yet. These will be great for Android users who want buds with punchy bass, good ANC, reliable touch controls and wireless charging.
Amazon Echo Dot
Amazon has knocked the price of the latest Echo Dot down to $23 right now. It’s one of the best smart speakers you can get thanks to its orb-like design, surprisingly good sound quality for its size and handy Alexa integration. The Dots can also act as Eero WiFi boosters, adding up to 1,000 square feet of coverage to your existing Eero system.
Amazon Echo Show 5
The latest Echo Show 5 is on sale for a record low of $40. The Show 5 has been one of the best smart displays available for quite some time, and it’ll be particularly good for anyone who wants an Alexa-capable smart display that won’t take up a lot of space. It also makes for a good alarm clock thanks to its sunrise alarm and tap-to-snooze features.
Anker Soundcore Motion +
One of the top Bluetooth options in our speaker guide is Anker’s Soundcore Motion +, which gives out good sound for its price point. The $100 MSRP is discounted to $70, which is a 30 percent discount and an all-time low. It has a bright and bassy output and offers EQ customization in the app. Plus it’s water-resistant, so you can take it to the park or on a hike and share your good taste in music with whoever is nearby.
Tile Pro (2-pack)
The Tile Pro has a replaceable battery and taps into a decent finding network to locate lost items. Right now, Prime members can get a two pack for $42, which is about $2 more than it's gone for on Amazon previously. It's our pick for the best Bluetooth tracker for Android users. While the Tile finding network isn't as vast as Apple's (and likely not as large as Google's upcoming network), the Pro still reliably allowed us to track down our missing backpack in a crowded pub for our guide.
Chipolo ONE
The Chipolo One is our pick for the best overall Bluetooth tracking device. It's currently down to $25 for the single tag, or you can get a 4-pack for $60. In our guide, we found the Chipolo to reliably and consistently inform us when we'd left our keys behind. It also has the loudest ring of the trackers we tried, which makes it easier to find lost keys and other items when they're nearby.
Amazon Kindle
The standard Kindle has dropped to $75 for October Prime Day. This model saw a lot of improvements when it was updated in 2022. Capacity was doubled to 16GB and the screen resolution jumped up to 300 ppi for much clearer text. We named it the best budget option in our ereader guide because its perfect entry point to reading and borrowing ebooks and audiobooks.
Amazon Kindle Paperwhite
The Kindle Paperwhite, meanwhile, is down to $95 for an 8GB model. That's $5 more than it went for during July's Prime Day event but still $45 off its MSRP. The Paperwhite gets you a few extra perks over the standard Kindle, including a larger 6.8-inch screen, a more comprehensive front light and IPX8-rated waterproofing. This deal applies to the ad-supported version (which displays ads for Kindle books and services on your lock screen); it you want no ads on your device, you’ll need to pay $20 more.
$100 PlayStation Store Gift Card + $10 Amazon credit
Here's a simple one: If you buy a $100 PlayStation Store digital gift card and use the code PSN100 at checkout, you can get an extra $10 Amazon credit to use on future purchases. If you often use Amazon and plan on picking up new PS5 games, renewing a PlayStation Plus subscription or buying any other content through the PlayStation Store anyway, it's effectively a bit of free money.
Samsung Smart Monitor M8
The Samsung Smart Monitor M8 is down to just $500, which is $200 off its starting price and the lowest price we've seen thus far. This 32-inch display has built-in apps and allows you to access streaming services, just like you would on a smart TV. It can also act as a smart home hub, showing you your smart camera feeds and more. This discounted model is the updated 2023 version of the monitor that launched at CES 2022.
Blink Mini (2-pack)
A two-pack of Blink Mini security cameras has dropped to $40 for Prime Day. That's about $10 more than they went for last Prime Day, but still a decent 38 percent discount. While these cameras are wired, they have most of the same features as the standard wireless Blink cameras including 1080p video recordings and support for two-way talk and motion alerts.
Google Indoor Nest Security Cam
A slew of Google Nest home security devices are on sale, including the battery-powered Nest Cam that can go inside or outside your home. Typically priced at $180, the security cam is down to $120 for Amazon's October Prime Day event. The Nest Cam works with smart speakers and displays enabled with Alexa or the Google Assistant and can last up to seven months depending on how much activity it picks up. Its weather-resistant build and magnetic mount should make it easy to install on most surfaces. It sends live alerts to your phone and will even allow for on-demand check-ins without a subscription, though it only stores the last three hours for free. For six months of stored footage, you'll need a Nest Aware membership.
Google Nest Thermostat
In other Google deals, the Nest Thermostat is on sale for just $90, which is only about $10 more than the lowest price we've tracked and $40 off Google's MSRP. This is Google's entry-level smart thermostat, but it still lets you control your heating and cooling from anywhere, suggests tweaks to help you save money, and in some cases, can entitle you to rebates from your utility provider. It's all relatively easy to program, and it works with Google's Nest Hub and other smart displays like the Echo Show.
Amazon Fire TV Sick Lite
When we tested different streaming devices, we picked the entry-level Fire TV Stick Lite as our favorite option. It's dropped to $18 for this sale, which is close to a record-low price. If you just need a barebones way to get a smart TV experience on pretty much any screen with an HDMI port, this is a good way to go. It gives you 1080p streaming, Wi-Fi 5 connectivity and access to apps like Netflix, Disney+, Max and, of course, Prime Video (which the interface tends to nudge you towards, which is one of our minor complaints). It allows for voice commands via the remote, but note that the remote can't control your TV's volume or power.
Amazon Fire HD 8
Amazon’s Fire HD 8 is down to $60 for the Prime Big Deal Days event, which is $5 more than the tablet’s all-time low but still $40 off its list price. This discount applies to the model with 32GB of storage; if you need more space, the 64GB version is on sale for $75. Either way, the Fire HD 8 is likely the cheapest competent tablet for most people: It’s slower than the Fire HD 10 and its display is limited to a 1,280 x 800 resolution, but it’s lightweight, it can last more than 10 hours on a charge and it’s still quick enough for basic streaming and reading. It’s not the best value at its standard going rate, but for $60, it’s hard to do better.
Amazon Fire 11 Max
The Fire Max 11 is Amazon’s largest and most performant tablet, with an 11-inch 2,000 x 1,200 resolution display, an aluminum frame, a respectable octa-core processor and 4GB of RAM. It has the same software limitations and lock-screen ads as any other Fire slate, so it’s a tough sell at its usual $230, but now it’s on sale for $150, which matches its all-time low. If you already use a bunch of Amazon services and don’t want to shell out for an entry-level iPad, it's a big upgrade over the Fire HD 8 — just don’t expect to get any real work done with it.
Google Pixel Tablet
The 128GB Google Pixel Tablet is down to $409, which is $90 off and a new low. The 256GB model is also on sale for $509. While we think Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S9 works better purely as a tablet, Google’s 11-inch slate still gets you a sharp LCD display, a speedy Tensor G2 chip and an easy-to-hold design that weighs just over a pound. Its big hook, however, is that it can attach to an included charging speaker dock and double as a Nest Hub Max-style smart display. Android still isn’t as optimized for large screens as iPadOS, but if that extra functionality sounds useful to you, the Pixel Tablet is worth a look. We gave it a score of 85 in June. (The Galaxy Tab S9, meanwhile, isn’t on sale as of this writing.)
Google Pixel 7a
The Google Pixel 7a is down to a new low of $399 for this sale event. It's the best midrange phone you can get right now thanks to its speedy Tensor G2 chip, smooth 90Hz display and support for wireless charging. The 7a also has solid cameras and an IP67 water-resistant design.
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
The entire Samsung Galaxy S23 series is on sale for Prime Day, including the S23, S23+ and S23 Ultra. These are some of the best Android phones you can buy right now, and we recommend springing for the S23 Ultra if you want all of the latest features from Samsung. The Ultra runs on a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip and has a big, bold 120Hz display, built-in S Pen and an excellent main camera.
Nano Power Bank with built-in USB-C
Anker's Nano Power Bank is a handy way to give your smartphone a little extra juice when you're out and about and confronted with a dead battery. And it's 25 percent off for Prime day, bringing it to $23, though only for Prime members. We're testing this one now for inclusion in our power bank guide and so far, so good. Anker made this one with a built-in USB-C connector, which means you can use it with your Android phone or the new iPhone 15. If you've got a previous model iPhone, there's a model with a built-in Lightning connector too. That model is 38 percent off, or $20.
Sony WH-CH720N headphones
Sony's WH-CH720N headphones are on sale for $98 for Prime Day. That's a $52 discount and the lowest price ever, but it's a Prime only deal. These cans didn't get the best review from us, only earning a mild score of 79 as we didn't love the overall plastic build that felt a bit cheap and the active noise cancelation wasn't the best. But the fit is comfortable and the sound quality is pretty good, if you're willing to put up with those drawbacks. Which may be easier to take at this new and improved price.
Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II
The Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II have dropped to $199 for October Prime Day, which is the best price we've ever seen, though you'll need to be a Prime member to get the deal. Though they're a generation old now, they remain one of the best wireless earbuds you can buy if active noise cancellation is your main priority. On top of that, these buds have a relatively comfortable fit and pleasing audio quality.
Beats Studio Pro
The Beats Studio Pro headphones are on sale for $179 right now. That's a sizable $170 discount. We reviewed these back in July when they came out and gave them a decent review score of 81. Unfortunately they didn't push any of the top picks from our our best headphones list off their pedestals. They aren't bad, however, offering pleasant, even-handed sound and good noise cancellation. Though Beats is now owned by Apple, these headphones still play nice with Android. There's no wear detection and the mostly plastic design isn’t super premium, but at this price, you may not care.
Sony SRS-XB13
The four-inch tall SRS-XB13 is back down to $35 for Prime Big Deal Days, which matches its sale price from July’s Prime Day sale. You'll need a Prime membership to see the deal, however. This is an older but still worthwhile model of the tiny portable speaker; Sony replaced it with the SRS-XB100 earlier this year, which is also currently seeing a 20 percent discount. Both devices are IP67-rated for water and dust resistance, and each can pair with another speaker for stereo sound.
Tribit StormBox Micro 2
The Tribit StormBox Micro 2 is another small speaker we like that puts out decent volume for its size, and right now it’s down to $48, which is $12 off its usual going rate. This device has a strap on its back that works well on belts, backpacks, or even bike handlebars, so it’s easy to take on the road. And "on the go" is where the StormBox Micro 2 performs best, as it’s more about portable volume than pure fidelity.
Google Nest Wi-Fi Pro 6E
The Google Nest Wi-Fi Pro 6E is on sale for $300 right now for a pack of three routers. That's within a dollar of the lowest price it's sold for on Amazon. It's one of the best Wi-Fi 6 router systems you can get at the moment thanks to its easy setup process, convenient Google Assistant integrations and Matter and Thread support. If you're looking for a not-too expensive way to upgrade your home Wi-Fi system, and one that will take little time to set up, Google's is the one to get.
Roku Streaming Stick 4K
Our favorite streaming stick, the Roku Streaming Stick 4K, has dropped to $37 for this sale. It packs a ton of features into an affordable package, including 4K HDR streaming capabilities, Dolby Vision, AirPlay 2 and private listening when you have a pair of headphones. And since it's so small, it makes for a great travel entertainment device too.
LG B2
The LG B2 OLED TV is down to $847 for a 55-inch model. That’s a new low and roughly $150 off its average street price in recent months. The B2 is the step-down model from the C2 — which is also on sale at $1,097 for a 55-inch set — as it’s not as bright or color-rich with HDR content, it runs on a slower processor and it has two fewer HDMI 2.1 ports. That said, its contrast, colors and motion performance will still be a significant upgrade if you’re upgrading from a more basic LED TV. LG’s new B3 TV promises a cleaner webOS interface, but it’s priced a good way higher as of this writing. If you want an OLED TV for less than $1,000, the B2 should be a better value.
Hisense U6K
If you want a more affordable TV, the Hisense U6K is also on sale, with the 55- and 65-inch models down to $400 and $548, respectively. We’ve seen these deals before, but each matches an all-time low. The U6K is has received generally positive reviews around the web, as it's one of the few budget-level sets with quantum dots, full-array local dimming and a mini-LED backlight. All of that should help it deliver better contrast and color volume than most TVs in its price range. It’s not ideal for gaming though, as it’s limited to a 60Hz refresh rate and lacks HDMI 2.1 ports. In general, it can’t match the brightness or viewing angles of a more expensive set, but it looks to be a good buy if you’re on a tighter budget.
For a well-reviewed midrange model, the Hisense U8K provides much better contrast and peak brightness, plus more gaming-friendly features like ability to play 4K content at up to a 144Hz refresh rate. That one is down to $748 for a 55-inch model and $998 for a 65-inch set.
Samsung The Frame smart TV
Samsung’s The Frame TV is down to $998 for the 55-inch set with an included bezel cover to further the illusion that the set is art when it's off. The discount is a hefty $550 less than this bundle’s average street price. Other sizes are discounted too, including 32-inch model for $548 to the 85-inch set for $3,498. The bundle deals are just for Prime members, but if you don't need the bezel, even non-members can snag the Frame TV alone for the same $998. The expensive sets don't have things you may expect like local dimming and mini-LED backlighting, so their picture quality isn’t as premium as you'd expect. But the realistic art-when-it's-off effect is convincing.
iRobot Roomba 694
iRobot's Roomba 694 has dropped to $199 for Prime Day. It's our favorite cheap robot vacuum thanks to its strong suction power, attractive design and easy to use app. It'll be a good option for robo-vac novices, or anyone that doesn't want to fuss too much with an automatic dirt sucker. It clears hard and carpeted floors well, and it automatically returns to its base once a cleaning job is finished so it can recharge.
Razer Basilisk V3
The Razer Basilisk V3 is down to $44 for Prime members, which is a few bucks more than its all-time low but still $6 less than its usual street price. This is the “best for most” pick in our guide to the best gaming mouse, as its sturdy shape should be comfortable for each grip type and all but the smallest hands. (Provided you’re a righty.) It has 11 customizable buttons, including a “sensitivity clutch” for more precise aiming, and its thumb wheel supports both left-right tilt and a faster free-spin mode. That wheel is somewhat noisy, and the whole thing is too heavy for competitive-minded players, but it still tracks accurately and glides smoothly.
Dell G15 5530 Gaming Laptop
A configuration of Dell’s G15 5530 Gaming Laptop with an Intel Core i7-13650HX processor, 16GB of RAM, an upgradeable 1TB SSD and an 8GB GeForce RTX 4060 GPU is down to $1,130 for Prime Big Deal Days. That’s roughly $270 below its usual going rate. This is an updated version of the “best budget” pick in our guide to the best gaming laptops: It’s heavy, and it can run warm, but this configuration is more than capable of playing modern games at high-ish settings, and its 15.6-inch, 165Hz, 1080p display is sufficiently bright. It is stuck with a 720p webcam though. The slightly larger Dell G16 7630 is also on sale at $1,500 for a model with a Core i9-13900HX and RTX 4070.
Samsung Pro Plus microSD
The Samsung Pro Plus microSD card is on sale for $20 right now. It's our top pick in our best microSD card guide because it was the most consistent of the ones we tested, with some of the best overall speeds and all of the important ratings that a good card should have: U3, V30 and A2. It'll be a great pick for your tablet, smartphone or Nintendo Switch, and it comes with a full-sized adapter in case you need to use it with a camera or connect it to your computer.
Backbone One
The Backbone One is a well-built gamepad that snaps around the sides of your phone and works immediately with just about any game that supports controller input. It’s also convenient for cloud streaming games from a console or PC. Right now both its USB-C and Lightning models are down to $70, which is $30 off. That’s not an all-time low, but discounts on the device are relatively uncommon. We gave the One a positive review last year, and we currently highlight it in our guide to the best handheld gaming systems. Backbone says the USB-C models will work with Apple’s new iPhone 15 lineup as well.
WD and Seagate Storage Expansion Cards for Xbox Series X/S
It’s unfortunate, but the only way to fully expand the storage of an Xbox Series X/S console is to buy a proprietary expansion card. If your Xbox is hurting for space, the 1TB version of WD’s Black C50 card is at least a little cheaper than usual at $125. That’s a $25 discount and a new low. If you need more room, the 2TB model of Seagate’s Storage Expansion Card is also on sale for an all-time low at $230. That’s $50 off. (The 1TB Seagate card is available for $130, but there’s little reason to buy that when the WD model is cheaper.) Both of these are still pricier than a comparable SSD, but any bit of savings should be welcome.
SteelSeries Apex Pro TKL Wireless
The SteelSeries Apex Pro TKL Wireless is down to $175, which is within a dollar of its all-time low and $75 off its list price. This is the top wireless pick in our gaming keyboard buying guide, mainly due to its magnetic OmniPoint switches, which enable a range of helpful gaming features. For instance, you can raise or lower the actuation point of individual keys — setting a high point to make typing more comfortable or a low one to make presses more responsive — and use a rapid trigger mode to repeat inputs faster.
The rest of the keyboard is satisfactory as well, with multiple connection options and a useful OLED display for adjusting settings, though you’d buy this for its gaming features more than its typing experience. In general, we think the Wooting 60HE is a better option for gaming enthusiasts, but that one isn’t on sale; the Apex Pro is a close-enough substitute if you need to go wireless. The smaller Apex Pro Mini Wireless is also discounted for $15 less.
Echo Pop
The Echo Pop is Amazon’s smallest Echo smart speaker and it's down to just $18 for Amazon's October Prime sale, which is a 55 percent discount and the lowest price we've tracked. Amazon announced a Kids version of the Pop at their latest devices event, but that version won't be out until the Prime sale is over.
Crucial MX500
The Crucial MX500 internal drive is on sale for $46 right now. It's been an Engadget favorite for a while thanks to its sequential read speeds of 560MB/s and a standard 2.5-inch design that should make it easy to swap in for your desktop's or laptop's used-up drive.
August Smart Lock (4th gen)
August Home Smart Lock, one we've tried and liked, is down to $158 for Prime members right now, which is a $72 percent discount. It's easy to install and won't take up too much space it's even slimmer than prior iterations. This isn't an all-time low, as this model has dropped to $139 in the past — but this is still a solid discount. The lock should work with most existing deadbolts and it directly connects to your Wi-Fi without the need for a separate bridge.
Here are all the deals we've rounded up so far:
Your October Prime Day Shopping Guide: See all of our Prime Day coverage. Shop the best Prime Day deals on Yahoo Life. Follow Engadget for Prime Day tech deals. Learn about Prime Day trends on In The Know. Hear from Autoblog’s experts on the best Fall Prime Day deals for your car, garage, and home, and find Prime Day sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-50-best-prime-day-deals-to-shop-while-you-still-can-from-portable-tech-to-smart-home-gear-194854033.html?src=rssOctober Prime Day 2023: The Best Prime Day Lightning Deals and Updates
Amazon Prime Big Deal Days is finally here and a number of our favorite gadgets are included in the sales. For the second year in a row, Amazon has given its Prime members another exclusive deal event in the fall, complementing its standard Prime Day that typically happens in July. It provides Prime members the opportunity to shop members-only deals and sales across pretty much everything available on Amazon — clothing, household goods and, of course, tech. The latter is most important to us at Engadget and there are good deals to be had as part of this year's October Prime Day.
Our live blog below will surface all of the best Prime Day deals you can get during Prime Big Deal Days, with a particular focus on gadgets including laptops, TVs, headphones, wearables, gaming gear and more. Follow along to make sure you don't miss any discounted items that may be on your holiday shopping list.
Your Fall Prime Day Shopping Guide: See all of our Prime Day coverage. Shop the best Prime Day deals on Yahoo Life. Follow Engadget for Prime Day tech deals. Learn about Prime Day trends on In The Know. Hear from Autoblog’s car experts on must-shop auto-related Prime Day deals and find Prime Day sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/october-prime-day-2023-the-best-prime-day-lightning-deals-and-updates-110052712.html?src=rssThe best Amazon Prime Day monitor deals for 2023
You can typically find a bunch of monitors on sale on Amazon Prime Day for all-time-low prices — or close to them — making it one of the best times to grab a display for your desk setup. This year is no different, with monitors from Samsung, LG, Dell and others discounted for Amazon's two-day shopping event. First, you should consider the size you need — you may want a big, ultra-wide monitor, but there might not be enough space for it on your desk. Then, you should consider if you need a display with specific features like high color accuracy, fast frame rates and the like. You'll also want to be realistic about your budget; while you can pick up an external monitor for quite cheap on Prime Day, there are tempting options at higher price ranges. Here are the best monitor deals we could find for Amazon Prime Day 2023.
Samsung monitor deals
A huge selection of Samsung monitors are on sale for Prime Day, including the Smart Monitor M80B for $380. That isn't a record-low price, but it's pretty close to it. This 32-inch display pulls triple duty as a monitor, smart TV and smart home hub. You can connect it to your computer just like any other external display, but it comes with Samsung's smart TV interface and a remote. It also has a built-in SmartThings hub so you can build out your IoT network from there with smart light bulbs and other compatible devices. You'll find Samsung monitors of all sizes (and at all price points) on sale for Prime Day, including some higher-end Odyssey gaming monitors — including the massive 49-inch Odyssey G9 curved gaming monitor for $400 off.
LG monitor deals
LG has discounted a number of its UltraFine and UltraGear monitors for Prime Day. Included among the sales is this 34-inch curved UltraWide monitor for $330, or 30 percent off its usual price. It supports 99 percent coverage of the sRGB spectrum and it has a Reader Mode that provides blue light reduction and helps eliminate on-screen flickers. You can easily find a budget-friendly monitor among LG's discounts, but there are more premium models on sale, too, like this 27-inch OLED monitor that's 15 percent off and down to $850.
Acer monitor deals
Prime Day has brought steep discounts to Acer, ASUS, MSI, Sceptre and other gaming monitors. A standout is this Acer Nitro FHD gaming monitor that for $160 that supports a 240Hz refresh rate, Adaptive Sync technology and a zero-frame design. These are the monitor discounts to check out on Prime Day if you're in the market for a gaming monitor in particular and also have a tight budget to stick to; most of the displays on sale here come in at $300 or less.
Dell monitor deals
If you're just looking for an external display to use in your home office, there are a bunch of good sales on monitors from Dell, Acer, BenQ and others that fit the bill. A budget-friendly option is this 24-inch Dell FHD monitor that comes in at only $100. In addition to a 75Hz refresh rate, this display has an anti-glare coating and a relatively small footprint, so it will fit into most desk setups easily. If you're a creative professional, consider ASUS's 31.5-inch ProArt Display, which is $100 off for Prime Day and down to only $299.
LePow C2S portable monitor
LePow's C2S portable 15-inch screen is on sale for $152 for Prime Day, or 20 percent off its usual rate. It earned a spot on our list of best monitors thanks to its decent brightness, solid contrast and its 96.1-percent sRGB gamut coverage. This monitor even has built-in speakers and it doesn't skimp on the ports: you get one mini-DisplayPort, one mini-HDMI connector, two USB-C ports and a headphone jack.
Your Prime Day Shopping Guide: See all of our Prime Day coverage. Shop the best Prime Day deals on Yahoo Life. Follow Engadget for the best Amazon Prime Day tech deals. Learn about Prime Day trends on In the Know. Hear from Autoblog’s car experts on must-shop auto-related Prime Day deals and find Prime Day sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/best-amazon-prime-day-monitor-deals-164410754.html?src=rssThe best gifts for teachers
Teachers can be some of the most important individuals in our lives. Whether you had one this past school year that truly inspired you, or one that just made getting through the daily grind of classes easier, now’s a great time to show them your appreciation. If you want to skip the standard gift basket or bouquet of flowers in favor of something a bit more personal (or perhaps practical), these are some of the best gifts for teachers that you can surprise them with this year.
Hario cold brew bottles
We recommend the Hario cold brew tea maker in our gift guide for tea lovers because it makes a beautiful, functional gift for anyone who likes loose-leaf iced tea. The heat-proof glass exterior has a wine bottle shape and the green silicone top houses a mesh strainer that keeps tea leaves where they belong. If the teacher you know is more into coffee, you can get them the equally attractive cold brew coffee maker from the same Japanese manufacturer. It brews up a batch in the fridge overnight and has graduated milliliter markings that make it look a little like a chemistry class beaker. – Amy Skorheim, Commerce Writer
Ember Mug 2
Many of us rely on caffeine to get through long days and teachers are no different. But dealing with students, lesson plans, lectures and other classroom activities may mean their beverage of choice grows cold before they can drink it all. The second generation of Ember’s smart mug, the Mug 2, doesn’t just keep tea or coffee hot — it keeps it at a steady temperature for a long time. The app integration lets you set the temp of the mug, while interior sensors shut the heat off when the mug’s empty or hasn’t been touched in two hours. The 10-ounce size has a battery life of up to an hour and a half and the 14-ounce capacity adds another 20 minutes. They can also stick the mug on the included charging coaster to keep their cup of coffee warm all school day long. – A.S.
Aura Mason
If your child's teacher is a sentimental type, a digital photo frame like the Aura Mason can let them easily add and look back on their favorite snapshots. The Mason itself has a crisp, nine-inch, 1,600 x 1,200 resolution display and a minimalist design that should look normal on a work desk or a side table back home. This thoughtful gift can display photos in portrait or landscape mode, and uploading photos (or videos) through the Aura app is uncomplicated. Just note that it can sometimes add black boxes around photos that don’t match its 4:3 aspect ratio.
If you want to save $50, the Aura Carver is a larger 10.1-inch frame with similar benefits, though it has a lower resolution (1,280 x 800) and only works in landscape. You could also gift a multi-function smart display like the Google Nest Hub, but those usually have lower-quality screens and aren’t as simple to mount on a wall. — Jeff Dunn, Senior Commerce Writer
Book of the Month
If you know a teacher who’s still a champion of the printed word, they might appreciate a Book of the Month subscription. I like how BOTM does the hard work of figuring out what’s new and good in fiction so all I have to do is read. The club selects seven or so books each month for members to pick from, and the selection is diverse enough that most readers will find something to meet their tastes. And if nothing looks good, they can always pick something from the back catalog or skip the month altogether. At first I thought it would be too much pressure to contend with a new book every month, but the option to skip effectively just extends their subscription, so there’s no pressure. You can gift a three, six or twelve month membership for $60, $100 or $200, respectively. – A.S.
Belkin BoostCharge Pro with MagSafe
A pick from our guide to the best wireless chargers, Belkin’s BoostCharge Pro is a compact charging pad that should be a useful addition for any iPhone-owning teacher’s desk. It’s MagSafe-compatible, so it can snap magnetically onto the back of any recent iPhone, and it delivers up to 15W of power, which is the fastest rate available for this class of device. It won’t be as quick as using a cable, but there’s a certain pleasure to simply plopping your phone down on it to recharge, and it can still deliver about a 70 percent charge to an iPhone 14 in an hour. The BoostCharge Pro also has a built-in kickstand for propping up a phone to watch videos and the like. This is far from the cheapest charging puck around, but as a gift, it’s a convenient way to top up. Just try to get it with a power supply, if possible. — J.D.
Blue light blocking glasses
Your favorite teacher or professor probably looks at a screen for just as long as you do every day. Blue light blocking glasses can be a great gift since they’ll make it easier for them to get work done while (hopefully) reducing eye strain, headaches and other ailments. These are probably best bought for educators who don’t wear prescription glasses already, since you don’t want to impede their actual eyesight with non-prescription lenses. Plenty of eyewear companies make stylish blue light glasses, but you don’t have to spend an arm and a leg on a pair. Privé Revaux has a ton of options priced as low as $30 each, or if you have a feeling your teacher would like to swap styles more often, Amazon has a number of multi-packs to choose from. — Valentina Palladino, Senior Commerce Editor
Headspace
The most tenured college professor and the newest preschool teacher could likely use a little more calm in their day, and Headspace is one gift idea that can help them get it. The brightly colored self-care app has a slew of meditations, guided breathing sessions and inspirational talks to choose from and each one lists its duration. I often just have a minute or two before I have to get back to what I was doing, and following even a one-minute-long breathing exercise can noticeably change my mood (and posture and general awareness). Headspace includes sleep programs too, like wind-down sessions, stories, white noise sounds and soundscapes. You can gift one year of the service for $70, or three months for $39. – A.S.
Kobo Clara 2e
We don’t want to make generalizations, but if there’s a segment of the population who likes to read, it’s probably teachers. The Kobo Clara 2E is our current favorite e-reader because it’s easy on the eyes, comfortable to hold and offers the right amount of customization. The waterproof design makes it a good candidate for vacations and pool-side reading, and the warm lights make it easy to read late into the night. Considering Kobo now has an unlimited read and listen subscription in Kobo Plus, the company's well-built devices are even better equipped to compete in a space where Kindles have dominated for years. – A.S.
Bellroy Desk Caddy
They say an organized desk is an organized mind. Whether that’s true or not, it can certainly be difficult to keep track of all the tech you need on a regular basis. Bellroy’s Desk Caddy has pockets, pouches and loops to keep cords, plugs, earbuds, and dongles in their place. The structured shape stands up when you load it, but is flexible enough to fit into a crowded backpack if you need to take it with you. We also like that it’s water resistant and made from recycled materials. – A.S.
Trade Coffee subscription
A Trade Coffee subscription can help the teacher in your life shake up their morning cup of joe. It offers a curated selection of more than 450 coffees from across the US and smartly personalizes which ones it recommends to each subscriber. Upon redeeming their gift, your teacher will be prompted to take a brief quiz that asks about their flavor and brew preferences, information Trade will use to suggest a specific bag catered to their taste. They can then give a thumbs-up or thumbs-down to any coffee they receive, which the company considers to hone future recommendations. Managing all of this online is straightforward. You can gift anywhere from two to 24 bags, and Trade says any gift subscriptions will not automatically renew, so nobody will have any surprise charges to deal with down the line. — J.D.
Purist Mover
The Purist Mover is the closest thing to a “premium” water bottle that I’ve tried, with a clean, minimalist stainless steel aesthetic and a satisfying textured finish. Its biggest hook, though, is the ultra-thin layer of glass that lines its interior. Apart from insulating your drink all day, this is designed to keep fluids from gaining a metallic taste or unwanted odors as quickly as they might with other bottles. The whole thing will still need washing every so often, but in my experience, this has actually worked.
The Mover is an 18oz bottle, but there are different size and lid options to choose from (the “Union” spout top is my preference, though it can be somewhat noisy, if that matters). No Purist bottle is especially cheap, but it should make hydrating a little more convenient for your teacher’s day-to-day, on top of providing a nicer piece of design for their desk. — J.D.
Tribit StormBox Micro 2
For audio-related lessons in class or just enjoying music while out and about, the Tribit StormBox Micro 2 is a highly portable Bluetooth speaker that pumps out good volume for its compact size. Its playback controls are simple to operate, and its built-in strap lets it connect to things like a bag or bike handlebars on the go. It can also double as a power bank and charge a smartphone in a pinch. A speaker this small will never be the fullest sounding, but for what it is, the Stormbox Micro 2’s audio quality is fine as well. If you like the idea of gifting a portable speaker but want something that sounds richer, though, you can check out our Bluetooth speaker buying guide for more recommendations. — J.D.
Criterion Channel subscription
If your teacher considers themselves a film buff, a Criterion Channel subscription might suit their tastes. This is the streaming service of The Criterion Collection, a video distribution company that restores and preserves a carefully curated selection of acclaimed films that span genres and languages. It doesn’t have the same deluge of content as a Netflix or Prime Video, but it also has a lot less trash.
The service bundles many films into helpful collections, from Afrofuturism to Foreign-Language Oscar Winners to Short Films by David Lynch. Various titles come with bonus features like cast interviews as well. Unfortunately, not every film in the Collection is available on the Channel at any given time. (There are gift cards that can go toward films that are only available in physical form.) Nevertheless, for movie-loving teachers who feel like they’ve watched everything on the usual suspects, the service should still provide hours of stimulating works. Gift subscriptions are available in one- to 12-month increments. — J.D.
The Sill plant gifts
You can’t go wrong with a gift of greenery to show your appreciation for a beloved teacher. You could pick up a flower arrangement locally or send them a fancy one from Bouqs or another online service, but something more unique like a plant or succulent from The Sill could be a gift they’ve never gotten before. The site has a bunch of options that will appeal to all kinds of people, from those who have never taken care of a plant before to green-thumbed veterans. There are even pet-friendly plant gifts you can buy for those teachers you know have little creatures in their households. The Sill also has regular deals on plants that you can snag (be it for someone else or yourself), so you don’t have to sacrifice even if you’re working with a tight budget. — V.P.
Amazon gift card
If you’re at a loss over what to get your favorite teacher to show your appreciation, an Amazon gift card is a good catch-all solution. Whether it’s school supplies, household essentials for their family or just something they’ve had on their wish list for themselves, most teachers will find a way to spend a few extra dollars at Amazon (or Walmart, Target or another retailer they prefer). — V.P.
A relaxing video game or two
If your kid's teacher likes to wind down with a video game after an aggravating day of work, a recommendation from our list of good relaxing games could make for a gift that’s both thoughtful and fun. A couple of standouts: PowerWash Simulator is a game about cleaning grimy environments that has a similar soothing effect as those deep-cleaning videos on YouTube, while Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker is a delightful puzzle game from Nintendo about exploring and reexamining diorama-like levels from new angles. — J.D.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/best-gifts-for-teachers-130002962.html?src=rssThe best gifts for teachers
Teachers can be some of the most important individuals in our lives, or the lives of our kids. Whether you had a particularly impactful teacher this year, or there’s one at your kids’ school that’s gone above and beyond for them, now is a great time to show them your appreciation. Gift baskets or a box of chocolates are fine options, but if you’d rather go the more personalized route, these are some of the best gifts for teachers that you can surprise them with this year.