Apple’s MacBook Air M2 is up to $300 off, plus the rest of the week’s best tech deals
While it’s a bit too late to receive most gifts in time for Christmas, there are still a handful of good gadget deals floating around if you’re shopping for yourself. If you need a new laptop today, for instance, multiple configurations of the
13-inch MacBook Air
are $200 off Apple’s list price. The
15-inch Air
, meanwhile, is available for as low as $999, a $300 discount. A bundle of
Apple’s AirTags
is down to $79, while a
pack of Tile trackers
is down to $50. The
Xbox Series X
is still $150 off, and the major video game storefronts have kicked off their annual winter sales, with sweeping discounts across
Steam
, the
Nintendo eShop
, the
PlayStation Store
and the
Microsoft Store
. We’re also seeing price drops on recommended
gaming mice
,
wall chargers
,
wireless earbuds
and more. Here are the best tech deals from this week that you can still get today.
Photo by Devindra Hardawar / Engadget
This is the lowest price we’ve seen for this version of the top pick in our laptop buying
guide
. This configuration includes Apple’s M2 chip, 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD.
A configuration of the
13.6-inch MacBook Air
with an Apple M2 chip, 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD is down to $1,299 at B&H. That’s $200 off Apple’s list price. If you can live with less storage and memory,
a variant with
8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD is also $200 off at $899. A version of the
15.3-inch Air
with the same specs, meanwhile, is $300 off and down to an all-time low of $999. The M2 MacBook Air is the top pick in our guide to the best laptops, and both models earned a score of 96 in their respective reviews.
That said, you should only grab one of these if you need a notebook right away, as a
recent report from
Bloomberg
‘s Mark Gurman said that Apple plans to launch updated MacBook Airs in the coming months. If you absolutely can’t wait, however, the current models remain supremely well-built and should perform well for everyday tasks for years to come.
If you want a more affordable desktop PC, the
M2 Mac mini
is also on sale for an all-time low of $479. That’s about $30 off its usual street price, though, again, it’s likely just a matter of time until we see a refresh with Apple’s new M3 chip.
Larian Studios
This is a modest 10 percent discount, but it’s the first real price drop we’ve seen for this highly acclaimed turn-based RPG, and it comes as part of a wider range of sales at various gaming storefronts this week. This price is also available at
GOG
, and the
PS5 version
is 10 percent off at $63.
It’s a great time to pick up a new video game, as
Steam
,
Nintendo
,
PlayStation
and
Xbox
have all kicked off their respective holiday sales. There are simply too many deals for us to list them all here, but one highlight is
Baldur’s Gate 3
for $54. That’s only $6 off its usual price, but it’s the first discount to date for the recent game of the year winner and recommendation in our guide to the best couch co-op games. The
PS5 version
of the RPG is also on sale for $63, another 10 percent discount.
Beyond that, other notables include the sweeping open-world RPG
Elden Ring
for $36, the stylish roguelike
Hades
for $12.49 and the superb 3D platformers
Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury
for $35.
Mass Effect Legendary Edition
,
which compiles three classic action-RPGs, is available for just $6, while
Halo: The Master Chief Collection
, which includes six entries in the Xbox’s premier FPS series, is back down to $10. A few more personal recommendations: the all-time great puzzler
Portal 2
for a buck, the frantic 2D platformer
Pizza Tower
for $15, the wonderfully kinetic FPS
Titanfall 2
for $4 and the ultra-stylish third-person shooter
Max Payne 3
for $6. Outside of these sales, the intense mech-action game
Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon
is down to a new low of $40 at Amazon.
There are hundreds more deals beyond those, so it’s worth perusing the sales for yourself if you’re looking to pad your backlog. (Use sites like
Deku Deals
and
IsThereAnyDeal
to ensure you’re getting a good price.) All of these promos will run into 2024, so even if you don’t want anything right now, you’ll have time to apply any gift cards you may receive over the holidays. PC gamers should note that the
Epic Games Store
is still running its holiday sale, which includes a recurring
33 percent coupon
that makes many games cheaper than they are on Steam and other storefronts.
Photo by Chris Velazco / Engadget
This is only about a dollar more than the lowest price we’ve seen for Apple’s diminutive Bluetooth tracker.
The
Apple AirTag
is the top pick for iPhone owners in our Bluetooth tracker buying guide, as it can utilize Apple’s giant
Find My
device network to locate lost items with impressive accuracy. Right now you can get a single AirTag for $24, which is $6 off Apple’s list price, or a
four-pack for $79
, which is $20 off. The former is about $1 off the lowest price we’ve tracked; the latter is a deal we’ve seen for much of the past few weeks, but it still comes within $5 of its all-time low. Just be aware that you’ll need an extra accessory or two if you want to attach an AirTag to a particular item, as it lacks any keyring holes or built-in adhesive. These deals are available at several retailers, including Amazon,
Walmart
and
Best Buy
.
Tile
This is the best price we’ve seen for this bundle of Bluetooth trackers, which includes two Tile Mates, a Tile Slim and a Tile Sticker.
Tile’s trackers
are among the better AirTag alternatives for Android users, and right now a four-pack that includes two Tile Mates, a Tile Slim and a Tile Sticker is down to a new low of $50. Normally, this bundle costs about $75. Tile’s devices generally aren’t as precise as AirTags, but its feature set is mostly similar and its crowd-finding network is still decently large. The varying designs here are more convenient, too — you can easily slip a Tile Slim into a wallet and attach a Tile Mate to a keyring without any third-party accessories. None of these devices have replaceable batteries, however, and Tile locks separation alerts (which let you know when you’ve travelled too far from a tracked item) behind a
subscription fee
.
Photo by Aaron Souppouris / Engadget
This is $10 more than the all-time low for Microsoft’s most powerful Xbox console.
The
Xbox Series X
is still $150 off and down to $350 at Best Buy,
Walmart
and
Target
, though the latter two may require in-store pickup. If those offers run dry, you can still
get a bundle
that pairs the console with the action-RPG
Diablo IV
for $50 more. While the console briefly
dipped
to $340 earlier this week, these are still nice entry points to Microsoft’s highest-end game console, which can play many games at a steady 4K/60 fps. The hardware also includes a disc drive, unlike the lower-cost Xbox Series S. And while the Xbox library is a bit light on top-tier exclusives, it still includes a diverse range of games we like. There’s a chance Microsoft launches an all-digital Series X refresh at some point in 2024, but the existing model is an easier buy at this price.
Photo by Jon Turi / Engadget
This is one of the lowest prices we’ve seen for this recommended Bluetooth speaker, which you can get with a $10 Amazon credit for no extra cost. The offer only applies to select colors, though.
The
Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 3
is down to $60 at Amazon and
Target
, which is a little more than $20 off the compact portable speaker’s typical street price. To sweeten the deal, both retailers are throwing in $10 of store credit alongside the purchase. That’ll come in the form of an e-gift card at Target, while Amazon says it’ll apply the credit to your account 30 days after shipment. We recommend the Wonderboom 3 in our guide to the best portable Bluetooth speakers, praising its rugged, waterproof design and punchy-for-the-size sound quality. Battery life should last between 14 and 20 hours depending on how much you crank the volume.
Photo by Jeff Dunn / Engadget
This ties the lowest price we’ve seen for the top pick in our gaming mouse buying guide.
The
Razer Basilisk V3
is on sale for $40 at Amazon,
Target
and
Best Buy
, a $10 discount that matches the deal price we saw on Black Friday. This is the top pick in our gaming mouse buying guide. It’s not especially light at 100 grams, but it performs reliably, and its sturdy, contoured shape should be comfortable for any
grip type
. It comes with 11 customizable buttons, and its scroll wheel is impressively versatile, as it can tilt left or right and utilize a free spin mode for faster scrolling. Though the design looks “gamer-y,” its RGB lighting isn’t overly aggressive, either.
Anker
This recommended wall charger includes three ports and can deliver up to 65W of power.
The
Anker 735 Charger
is down to $30 at Amazon, which is about $10 off its typical street price. This is a fairly compact wall charger with two USB-C ports and a USB-A port. It can supply up to 65W of power, which is enough to refill many smartphones at full speed and charge some smaller laptops. If you need more juice, the
Anker 736 Charger
is a bit larger but can deliver up to 100W; that one is $15 off and down to $45 with an on-page coupon.
Photo by Billy Steele / Engadget
This deal ties the Black Friday pricing for Bose’s latest wireless earbuds, which we recommend to those who want the strongest active noise cancellation possible in a true wireless design.
The
Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds
are back on sale for $249 at several retailers, which isn’t an all-time low but still takes $50 off the pair’s usual going rate. It also ties the deal we saw on Black Friday. The QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds earned a score of 88 in our review this past September, and they’re currently the “best for noise cancellation” pick in our wireless earbuds buying guide. If you just want the strongest active noise cancellation (ANC) possible in a true wireless form factor, they’re better at muting the outside world than any earbuds we’ve tested. Their default sound goes heavy on the bass, which should please fans of hip-hop and EDM, but you can customize the EQ curve if needed. The design is on the larger side, however, and their battery life and call quality are just OK.
Sony’s WF-1000XM5
, the top pick in our guide, is currently available for a dollar less, though that discount has been available for most of the past two months. The WF-10000XM5 is still a more well-rounded option on the whole, but the QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds’ ANC is more adept at muting low-end noises like the rumble of a plane or bus engine.
Photo by Billy Steele / Engadget
We recommend the Fit Pro for gym-goers in our wireless earbuds buying guide.
The
Beats Fit Pro
is the “best for workouts” pick in our wireless earbuds guide, and it’s now on sale for $160 at Amazon,
Walmart
and others. We’ve seen this deal several times in the past year, but it’s a decent $20 less than the pair’s typical street price. The Fit Pro packs many of the Apple-friendly conveniences of the
AirPods
Pro — hands-free Siri, easy pairing and audio switching, spatial audio, etc. — in a sportier and more stable design. It sounds nice, too, plus it uses physical buttons instead of touch controls. That said, it lacks wireless charging, it can’t connect to multiple devices simultaneously and its ANC can’t really touch the better options on the market. We gave the Fit Pro a score of 87 in our review. A few
other Beats models
are also on sale, including the more basic
Studio Buds
for $80.
Hisense
This deal matches the best price we’ve seen for the 55-inch model of Hisense’s highly-rated budget TV.
The 55-inch version of
Hisense’s U6K TV
is back down to $350 at Amazon and
Best Buy
, tying the all-time low we saw around Black Friday. Normally, it retails for $50 to $100 more. Though we don’t review TVs at Engadget, the U6K has
received
positive
reviews
from
other sites we trust for delivering better-than-usual picture quality for a budget-level TV. It’s one of the few sets in this price range to use mini-LED backlighting, quantum dots and full-array local dimming, which collectively improve its color volume and contrast performance. Reviews say it can’t get as bright as more expensive models, so it won’t be great for HDR content, and its image will wash out when viewed from an angle. It’s also not ideal for gaming, as it’s stuck at a basic 60Hz refresh rate and lacks HDMI 2.1 ports. But if you don’t have tons of cash to burn, it should provide strong value.
LG
This matches the best price we’ve tracked for the 48-inch version of LG’s entry-level OLED TV.
If you’re willing to pay a little extra and don’t mind dropping down to a 48-inch TV, the
LG A2
is also worth noting at its current price of $550 at Best Buy. This is another deal we’ve seen numerous times, but it ties the best price we’ve tracked. The A2 is LG’s entry-level OLED TV from 2022, but simply being an OLED set means it produces superior contrast, bolder colors, wider viewing angles and smoother motion than most options in this price range. It can’t get especially bright, so it’s best suited away from glare, and like the U6K it lacks HDMI 2.1 features for gaming like VRR. Still, it should be a nice step-up option for smaller or secondary rooms.
Photo by Jeff Dunn / Engadget
This is one of the steeper discounts we’ve seen for this recommended wireless controller for the Nintendo Switch and PCs.
The
8BitDo Ultimate Bluetooth Controller
is on sale for $56 at Best Buy. That’s a few bucks higher than the lowest price we’ve tracked but still $14 off the device’s typical going rate. The Ultimate Bluetooth Controller is a comfortable and deeply customizable wireless gamepad for Switch and PC that we’ve highlighted before. The big advantage it has over most official controllers is its Hall effect joysticks, which use magnets to read inputs instead of contact-based potentiometers. That means it should be less susceptible to wear over time and avoid the dreaded “stick drift” we often see with traditional gamepads. An accurate d-pad, a nifty charging dock and a pair of customizable back buttons are all nice to have as well.
Amazon
This is the second-best discount we’ve seen for Amazon’s latest 10.1-inch tablet.
The latest
Amazon Fire HD 10
tablet is on sale for $90, which is $10 more than the all-time low we saw on Black Friday but still $50 off its usual going rate. At this price, the Fire HD 10 is one of the better values for those who just want a cheap slate for media consumption. Its 10.1-inch 1080p display is decently sharp and bright, its battery lasts a solid 10-ish hours per charge and it performs fine for simple web browsing and video streaming. This model only comes with 32GB of storage, but you can expand that with a microSD card. Its matte plastic design is still a far cry from an iPad’s build quality, and Amazon’s Fire OS is still a bit of a mess, with lock-screen ads, a limited
app store
and a general tendency to push you toward the company’s own services. But if you really can’t spend more than $100 on a new tablet, the Fire HD 10 should be an acceptable compromise.
Samsung
This versatile monitor can function like a tuner-less smart TV and access various streaming apps even when it’s not connected to a PC.
The 32-inch
Samsung Smart Monitor M80C
is back down to $400 at Amazon,
B&H
and other retailers. That’s a roughly $100 discount and the best price we’ve seen outside of education-related special offers. This is one of the more versatile monitors on the market, as it comes with the Tizen platform you’d find on Samsung’s smart TVs built-in. This allows the device to access various streaming services without having to connect to a PC. It’s a decent 4K monitor in its own right, with a VA panel that delivers high contrast, though it’s limited to a 60Hz refresh rate and will look washed out from an angle. You’d buy it for the extra functionality first: Apart from the built-in app support, it can function as a
smart home hub
, it supports Apple AirPlay and it works with both Alexa and
Bixby
. There are built-in speakers and a dedicated webcam as well.
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