You’re probably looking forward to spending more time outside now that the weather is getting nicer, and there are ways you can spruce up your backyard setup to it even more comfortable. Solo Stove’s fire pits can cut the chill of spring nights without filling your spot with smoke like traditional fire pits would. Now, thanks to the company’s spring sale, you can pick up any of its three fire pits for much less than usual. The smallest in the lineup, the Ranger, is $100 off and down to $200, while the mid-sized Bonfire is down to $240. The biggest of them all, the Yukon, is a whopping $325 off and down to $425.
We’ve recommended Solo Stove devices in a few outdoor guides, most recently in our fall gear guide, but these fire pits can be used all year round. The biggest perk they have in comparison to cheaper fire pits is that they channel smoke away from you using their double-walled design that pulls air through vent holes and back into the fire. This helps keep the flames hot, reduce smoke and create fine ash.
All three Solo Stove fire pits have solid, one-piece, stainless steel designs, which makes them easy to set up, clean and even transport. The 15-pound Ranger and the 20-pound Bonfire are the most portable of the bunch, while the 38-pound Yukon is probably best left in a permanent spot in your backyard. The smaller two fire pits come with a carry case, and while you can position them correctly on the ground or a concrete patio, we recommend picking up a bundle that includes a stand so you’ll have more placement options. In addition to the stand, the “backyard bundle” also includes a shield, which keeps pops and embers from escaping, along with a weather-resistant shelter bag.
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One of Jabra’s latest pairs of true wireless earbuds, the Elite 4 Active, is another example of how the company’s consistently trying to improve its devices by adding more features and making prices more compelling. The $120 midrange buds earned a score of 84 from us, and now you can get them at a new record-low price of $100. Also on sale are the budget-friendly Elite 3 earbuds, which are 25 percent off and down to $60.
As we explained in our review, Jabra packed a lot into these earbuds. They have a familiar, comfortable design that’s noticeable smaller than their predecessor, which means they’re lighter and don’t stick out of your ears as much. Like the rest of the company’s Active line, the Elite 4 Active have extra sweat protection and an IP57 water resistance rating so they can withstand even your toughest workouts. While their onboard controls are a bit confusing at first, they are useful to have and work just fine once you get the hang of them. They also have their own Find My feature, which lets you locate a missing earbud using the Sound+ app.
That companion app also lets you do things like customize active noise cancellation, tweak the EQ and more. The ANC on these buds is solid, but don’t expect it to be as powerful as that on more expensive earbuds from, say, Sony or Bose. Jabra’s HeathThrough mode can also be controlled from within the app and it lets you choose how much of your surroundings you want to hear at any given moment. Sound quality is decent as well with good clarity and solid bass, but as to be expected, you’ll get better audio on pricier earbuds.
As for battery life, Jabra estimates up to seven hours of use before the buds need to be recharged, and you’ll get an additional three charges with its case. Unfortunately, these don’t support wireless charging, nor do you get features like automatic pausing that you’ll find in some competitors. However, the Elite 4 Active are a great option if you’re looking for a solid, affordable pair of ANC earbuds to be your next workout companion.
If you’re looking to spend a bit less, you can’t go wrong with the Jabra Elite 3, which we called the standard for affordable wireless earbuds. While you’re not getting features like ANC, wireless charging or automatic pausing with these buds, you are getting a comfortable fit, reliable onboard controls, a seven-hour battery life and impressive sound quality. We thought that was a steal at their normal $80 price, so it’s even better if you pick them up while they’re $20 cheaper.
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If there’s a Switch title you’ve had your eye on for a while, or you’re looking to stock up on a few games, you can do so for slightly less by picking up an eShop gift card at Amazon right now. The online retailer knocked 10 percent off Nintendo’s $50 eShop gift card, so you can get it for $45. You’ll then have a total of $50 to spend at Nintendo’s online store, where you can get the latest games like LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga or buy a few titles that are already on sale.
If you’d rather use your funds to get as many new games as possible, it’s worth checking on the sales and deals page on Nintendo’s eShop. The offers change regularly, but you can usually find some indie titles, expansion packs and others at a discount. Currently, you can snag the puzzle adventure game Carto for only $10, or half off its normal price, plus a number of Doom and Jackbox games for less.
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Samsung’s latest Galaxy S22 handsets are some of the best Android phones you can get right now, and Amazon has discounted the entire lineup. Each of the three S22 models is cheaper than usual, with the best savings being on the Galaxy S22 Ultra and the S22+ — both are $200 off, bringing them down to $1,000 and $800, respectively. The standard Galaxy S22 is $100 off and back down to an all-time low of $700. And if you decide to take the plunge, you can get $60 off the Galaxy Buds 2 if you buy the earbuds along with one of the S22 smartphones. Just click on the “extra savings” banner on the phones’ product pages to see how to add both items to your cart.
The Galaxy S22 Ultra is the best of the best coming from Samsung right now, and it marries a lot of features from the company’s Note family with its flagship S lineup. It sports a 6.8-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen that has a 120Hz refresh rate and a peak brightness of 1,750 nits. It also has the new “Vision Booster” feature, which automatically adjusts display brightness and contrast depending on how bright or dim your environment is. The phone runs on Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processors, and the model on sale has 12GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.
With the phone being so large, it has space for a built-in S Pen, which lets you take notes and doodle on the phone’s screen. This is the main feature taken from the Note family, and power users will appreciate it. Samsung also improved the latency to 2.8 milliseconds, so writing with the S Pen will feel even more natural than it did before.
As far as cameras go, you’re getting a 108-megapixel main sensor, a 12MP ultrawide shooter and two 10MP telephoto lenses, plus a host of improvements like auto-framing, better video stabilization, more accurate portrait blur and Samsung’s new Adaptive Pixel feature. That’s all to say you’re getting a very capable camera setup that holds its own against those on the latest iPhones and Google smartphones.
Ultimately, the S22 Ultra is the handset to get if you want all of the latest features that Samsung has to offer in a smartphone. But if you’re ok with a slightly smaller device and one that doesn’t have perks like a built-in S Pen, either the S22 or S22+ will serve you well. We gave both smartphones a score of 87 for their lovely displays, strong performance and slick design. The S22+ has the added benefits of UWB and WiFi 6E connectivity, slightly faster WiFi speeds and a longer battery life. Considering this sale makes the S22+ only $100 more than the S22, it’s a good opportunity to get a slightly more capable device without paying too much of a premium for it.
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Mother’s Day is quickly approaching and if you’re looking to get mom a piece of new tech, you can do so right now while saving some money in the process. Apple’s latest AirPods remain on sale for $150 and you can pick up the Apple Watch Series 7 for as low as $330, depending on the color you choose. A few robot vacuums have been discounted, including the already affordable Roomba 694, plus Ninja’s 10-in-1 multicooker is still $70 off and down to $130. Here are the best tech deals from this week that you can still get today.
Roomba 694
Valentina Palladino / Engadget
iRobot’s affordable Roomba 694 is still on sale for $180 right now, which is a record low. This is one of our favorite budget-friendly robot vacuums thanks to its easy to use mobile app, good cleaning power and sleek design.
Apple’s newest earbuds are close to their record-low price right now. You can grab the third-gen AirPods for $150, or $30 off their normal rate. We gave them a score of 88 for their improved design, much better audio quality and longer battery life.
Apple’s AirPods Pro are back on sale for $174, which is 30 percent off their normal price. We gave them a score of 87 for their improved fit, good audio quality and solid ANC.
Many color options of the 41mm Apple Watch Series 7 are down to $330, or $70 off their normal price. We gave the wearable a score of 90 for its bigger screen, faster charging and handy watchOS 8 features.
Both Amazon and Walmart have the entry-level iPad for $309 right now, or $20 off its normal price. We gave the slab a score of 86 for its improved performance, excellent battery life and Center Stage-capable front cameras.
A couple of colors of the AirPods Max are $100 off and down to $450. We gave the premium headphones a score of 84 for their excellent sound quality, solid ANC and reliable onboard controls.
The Roomba j7+ robo-vac and the Roomba s9+ are both $200 off right now and down to $599 and $799, respectively. These are both advanced machines from iRobot, with the j7+ sporting a pet poop detection feature, while the s9+ has the strongest suction power of all of the company’s robot vacuums. Both also come with clean bases, so you won’t have to empty their dustbins manually after each cleaning job.
A bunch of Eero 6 router packs are on sale right now, including a three-pack of the Eero 6 Pro, which is $120 off and down to $479. You save spend a bit less money and opt for the two-pack, which is $80 off and down to $319. These are the latest WiFi 6 systems from the Amazon-owned brand, and many of the come with built-in Zigbee smart home hubs.
The Fitbit Charge 5 tracker is down to $130, which is only $10 more than its record-low price. We gave the device a score of 82 for its accurate onboard GPS, slim design, standard Fitbit Pay and long battery life.
Ninja’s 10-in-1 multicooker is $70 off and down to $130, which is close to its all-time-low price. This is a solid alternative to an Instant Pot as it has a bunch of cooking modes including pressure cook, slow cook, steam, yogurt and even air fry.
A handful of Google smart home devices are on sale right now, including the Nest Video Doorbell Battery, which is $30 off and down to $150. This gadget will let you keep an eye on what’s going on outside your door from your phone, and there are no wires to fuss with when you install it. You can also pick up the Nest Cam Indoor and Outdoor for less, coming in at $80 and $150, respectively.
Amazon’s smart thermostat is back on sale for $48, which is 20 percent off its regular price. The Energy Star-certified device uses Honeywell’s Home Thermostat tech to help you save on energy costs — and, like other Amazon devices, it works with Alexa so you can use voice commands to control the temperature in your home.
Both Google’s standard Nest Thermostat and the more advanced Learning model remain discounted right now. You can pick up the regular version for $100, while the Learning Thermostat is still on sale for $200. They share most of the same features, but you’ll get a slicker design, a higher-res display and the ability to connect with Nest Temperature Sensors with the Learning model.
NordVPN’s latest deal lets you save 51 percent off the price of a two-year subscription, so you’ll pay only $96 for that time period. After the first two years, the price goes up to $99 per year. NordVPN is one of our favorites thanks to its speed, its no-logs policy, the thousands of servers it has to choose from and that one account supports up to six connected devices
This midrange Bluetooth speaker is $80 off and down to $300, which is the cheapest we’ve seen it. It earned a spot in our portable Bluetooth speaker guide for its dynamic yet balanced sound quality, IP67-rated design and relatively compact size.
This massive OLED TV from Sony is $500 less than usual, bringing it down to $5,500. It’s the 2021 model and it supports XR Motion Clarity, the Google TV interface, voice commands with Alexa, HDMI 2.1 and more.
If you’re looking for new devices to add to your smart home setup, you can get a few Nest gadgets for less right now. Amazon, Adorama and B&H Photo have discounted a handful of Google smart home gadgets, including the Nest Cam Indoor, which is $20 off and down to $80. The Nest Cam Outdoor and the Video Doorbell Battery are both $30 off and down to $150, too.
The Nest Cams on sale are quite similar, but the Nest Cam Outdoor has a weatherproof design so you can place it anywhere outside your home, plus expanded Night Vision and an internal battery. The latter means you don’t have to place the camera near an outlet, instead, you can snap it into place on its base and leave it be. Google estimates you’ll get up to seven months of battery life, depending on how much activity the camera records regularly, before you’ll need to recharge it.
Both the Indoor and Outdoor cams record at 1080p and they’ll send alerts to your phone when motion is detected in their line of site. Both also have built in speakers and microphones, so you can hear what’s going on and speak to people on the other end of the camera.
As for the Video Doorbell, it lets you keep an eye on what’s going on outside any door. Since the model on sale runs on a rechargeable battery, installation is pretty easy and you can use it with any door — not just your front door. As with the security cameras, the Nest Video Doorbell will send you alerts when you have a visitor and you can chat with them through your phone and the device’s built-in speaker and microphone. Google’s “intelligent alerts” can also differentiate between a visitor, a package being delivered, an animal sighting and more, so you’ll always know what’s happening and if it requires your immediate attention.
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The Instant Pot may be the most popular and ubiquitous multicooker, but it’s certainly not the only option. Companies like Ninja now make their own multicookers that can hold their own against the various Instant Pot models out there, and now you can pick up one of Ninja’s most capable machines at a near record-low price. The Ninja Foodi 10-in-1 multicooker is on sale for $130, or $70 off its normal price and only $10 more than its all-time low that we saw at the end of last year.
As the name suggests, this model supports 10 cooking modes, including pressure cook, slow cook, steam, dehydrates and more. Among those is an air-fry mode, which isn’t something all multicookers have, and the machine uses Ninja’s “TenderCrisp Technology” to lock in juices using pressure cooking and then crisp the outside just before finishing. This multicooker has a 6.5-quart capacity, which is big enough to make a whole meal for a mid- to large-sized family, and it can fit a whole, five-pound chicken or a six-pound roast easily.
Generally, you’ll find the best deals on these devices during the holiday shopping period, but this discount is a good one if you want to add a device like this to your kitchen immediately. And if you’re totally new to the world of multicookers, you can check out our Instant Pot guide for handy tips, tricks and recipe sources since most of them can be applied to this Ninja device, too.
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That tiny webcam on your laptop has probably gotten more use in the last few years than it ever has before. Even if you’re back to taking some of your meetings in the office, chances are that back-to-back Zoom calls are now a permanent part of your pro…
The 2021 MacBook Pros were some of the best laptops we came across last year, but as to be expected, they come with high price tags. Right now, you can pick up the 14-inch MacBook Pro for $250 cheaper than usual at Amazon. The price has already been discounted by $50, but an addition $200 automatically applied coupon brings the machine down to a record low of $1,749.
This particular model comes with Apple’s M1 Pro chip, which features an 8‑core CPU and 14‑core GPU, plus 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. The performance gains provided by specs like this was one reason why both the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros earned a score of 92 from us when we reviewed them last year. Not only will they be able to handle anything you throw at them, but they also have the stamina to last most of the day. We clocked a 12.5-hour battery life for the 14-inch model in our testing and a 16.5-hour battery life on the 16-inch laptop.
While the MacBook Pro looks fairly similar to previous models, Apple fixed a few long-standing issues — namely, the lack of ports. The new machines have three Thunderbolt 4 ports, an HDMI connector, a headphone jack, an SD card slot and a MagSafe power port. You’re also getting a 1080p FaceTime webcam and a Liquid Retina XDR display with a 3,024 x 1,964 resolution, up to 1,600 nits of brightness and a 120Hz refresh rate. The biggest downsides to the MacBook Pro are its non-upgradeable memory and storage, plus its high price tag. This discount addresses one of those issues, and overall, it’s a solid laptop that will be best for power users.
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Fitness trackers are a good alternative to smartwatches for those that want to keep track of daily activity and workouts, but aren’t into the look and feel of digital timepieces. One of the best out there is Fitbit’s Charge 5 and you can get it for $130 right now at Amazon. That’s 13 percent off its regular price and, while not a record low, it’s only $10 more than that.
The Charge 5 earned a score of 82 from us — while Fitbit updated its design, the tracker is quite similar to the Charge 4 that came before it. It has a full color touchscreen with an always-on mode that you can choose to enable, plus a frame that’s 10 percent thinner than its predecessor and more comfortable band.
It’s definitely more low-profile than a standard smartwatch, which some will appreciate, but just because it’s relatively slim doesn’t mean it’s light on power. The Charge 5 tracks all-day heart rate, activity, sleep and more, plus it has a built-in GPS for mapping outdoor workouts. It also comes standard with Fitbit Pay, the company’s contactless payment system, so you can pay for groceries or a coffee on your way back from a run without needing your wallet.
Like other trackers, the Charge 5 has a clear advantage over standard smartwatches when it comes to battery life. The device lasted about two and a half days in our testing with the screen in always-on mode, and a full five days with that feature turned off. If you’re looking for an activity monitor that you won’t have to worry about charging every night, this is a good option.
If you are more of a smartwatch person, Fitbit’s high-end Sense device is also on sale right now for $200, or $100 off its normal price. We gave the timepiece a score of 82 for its bright, sharp display and comprehensive suite of health tracking tools, which includes EDA scanning, skin temperature monitoring, ECG measurements, high and low heart rate alerts and more.
