Anker makes our pick for the best budget-friendly earbuds in the form of the Soundcore Space A40. That model is now an even more enticing proposition, as has it dropped to an all-time-low price. You can pick up the Anker Soundcore Space A40 now for $40. The earbuds usually cost $80, so you're saving $31.

Given that the Space A40 boasts features you'd find in earbuds that are twice as expensive, we already felt that they offered great value, so this is a pretty solid deal. The earbuds are light, and we reckon they should be comfortable to wear for extended periods. You won't hear as much detail as you would get from higher-end options, but that's to be expected. What you will get is an all-round warm sound profile that does a decent job at the lower end.

You'll be able to adjust the EQ settings in the Soundcore app if you wish to put more onus on the bass or high end. You can also customize the touch controls through the app.

In terms of durability, these earbuds have an IPX4 rating for water resistance, which is at least enough to protect them from everyday sweat and light rain. It's possible to connect them to two devices at the same time and you can use each earbud independently. The battery life isn't bad either as the buds will run for around eight hours before you have to plop them back into the charging case (which has wireless charging support and can top up the earbuds with another 40 hours or so of listening time).

The best feature of the Space A40 though is the active noise cancellation (ANC), which delivers great performance for earbuds at this price. There's adaptive ANC tech that adjusts the intensity of the noise cancellation based on your surroundings, though it won't block out higher pitched sounds completely. You can adjust the ANC level manually too. There's also a transparency mode, which is decent enough.

While phone calls are viable with these earbuds, the mic quality isn't terrific. The lack of auto-pausing when you remove an earbud is a disappointment too. Still, those are relatively minor complaints for a set of earbuds that are otherwise great value.

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The next Nintendo Direct is scheduled for June 18 at 10AM ET. Nintendo said during its latest earnings call that a showcase would take place sometime in June and the company has stuck by its word. The Direct is just far enough away from Summer Game Fest to let Nintendo have all of the attention to itself.

The stream will run for around 40 minutes and focus on games coming to Switch later this year. It really does feel like this is the swansong period for the Switch, as Nintendo confirmed it will finally reveal the console's successor by next April. However, the company has made it clear that there will be no discussion of the Switch 2, Super Switch or whatever the next console is called during the Nintendo Direct. 

That said, here's hoping Hollow Knight: Silksong will show up here — that highly anticipated sequel was a notable no-show during Summer Game Fest. I have my fingers crossed for a Donkey Kong platformer too. It's been too dang long since the last one.