If you’re looking for a budget-friendly robot vacuum to get for yourself or for mom for Mother’s Day, iRobot’s Roomba 694 is a great option. It’s our current favorite affordable robo-vac, and now you can pick it up for even less than its normal rate of $274. Amazon has the machine for $179, which is $95 off and a return to its record-low price.
Chances are you’ve heard of iRobot before even if you have never owned a robot vacuum because the brand is, arguably, the most well known in that space. With that recognition comes high price tags, but the Roomba 694 is a solid machine made better by this discount. It has a three-button design and app connectivity, giving you a few ways to control it, and it cleans both hard and carpeted surfaces well. It’ll putter around your home, sucking up dirt, debris and even pet hair as it moves from room to room, and it’ll automatically return to its charging base when it’s finished.
In addition to starting cleaning jobs from the iRobot app, you can also set cleaning schedules, which make the robot even more autonomous. The Roomba 694 is also compatible with Alexa and the Google Assistant, so you can use voice commands to control it as well.
iRobot estimates the Roomba 694 will run for about 90 minutes before it needs a recharge, but we found that it often ran for less time before returning home. That means that those with larger homes may have to wait longer for clean floors as the machine will have to charge up before it completes a job, but otherwise, there aren’t many downsides to this robo-vac. It’s an especially good pick for novices since iRobot’s mobile app is quite easy to use and the machine does the cleaning basics well.
A couple of other iRobot machines are also on sale right now, and they’re best for those that want to splurge on an advanced robot vacuum. Both the Roomba j7+ and the Roomba s9+ are $200 off right now, bringing them down to $599 and $799, respectively. The former is one of the company’s newest devices with a pet poop detection feature (yes, you read that right), while the latter is the highest-end machine you can get from iRobot. Both also come with clean bases, so the robots will empty their dustbins into the base after every cleaning job.
A number of gadgets remain on sale as we head into the holiday weekend. Apple’s latest AirPods remain $30 off and down to $150, and you can pick up the AirPods Pro for $175. Certain colors of the Apple Watch Series 7 are on sale for as low as $313, plus you can save on a bunch of Surface devices in Microsoft’s spring sale. Finally, Amazon has discounted its regular Kindle to $55 while also slashes prices of its Fire tablets. Here are the best tech deals from this week that you can still get today.
AirPods (3rd gen)
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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 $175, 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.
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.
Many color options of the 41mm Apple Watch Series 7 are down to $330, or $70 off their normal price. The green model is even cheaper, coming in at $313. We gave the wearable a score of 90 for its bigger screen, faster charging and handy watchOS 8 features.
You can pick up the Mac Mini M1 desktop for $570, which is an all-time-low price, thanks to a $99 coupon that’s automatically applied at checkout. It runs on an eight-core CPU, eight-core GPU, a 16-core Neural Engine, 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. It’s a good option if you want a relatively new desktop that won’t take up too much space on your desk.
Through April 21st, you can save hundreds on Surface devices, Xbox games and more in Microsoft’s spring sale. The Surface Laptop Go is up to $200 off, so you can grab the model with a Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage for $700.
Amazon’s regular Kindle is down to $55, which is $35 cheaper than usual. You can also pick up the Kids Edition for $65 instead of the usual $110. While the latest Paperwhites have a lot of bells and whistles, the standard Kindle remains a good option for those on a budget.
A number of Fire tablets are on sale right now, including the Fire HD 8, which is down to $50. The larger Fire HD 10 has also been discounted to $100, which is $50 off its normal rate. These slabs are good options for those that want a basic, lightweight device for travel or doing things like online shopping and checking email from your couch.
iRobot’s Roomba j7+ and s9+ are $200 off at Wellbots right now when you use the code ENGMOM200 at checkout. These are some of the company’s most powerful robo-vacs: the j7+ has a convenient “poop-detection” feature while the s9+ has the strongest suction power of any Roomba. Both also come with clean bases, which allow the robots to automatically empty their bins after each cleaning job.
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 $119, 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.
The latest Chromecast with Google TV is $10 off at Walmart and Best Buy, bringing it down to $40. We gave the compact streaming device a score of 86 for its solid remote control, good Google Assistant integration and support for 4K content with Dolby Vision and Atmos.
You can get a $5 promotional credit when you buy a $50 Apple gift card at Amazon when you use either the code APPLEDEAL or APPLEAPRIL at checkout. The promotional credit can be used on future Amazon purchases, and while it’s not a huge credit, it’s more than what we usually see attached to Apple gift cards.
The Elite 7 Active earbuds are 17 percent off and down to $150 right now. These are some of Jabra’s newest buds and they have a special “ShakeGrip coating” that helps keep the buds in place during sweaty workouts. Plus, the elite 7 Active support adjustable ANC, HearThrough technology and four microphones for better call quality.
Through April 17th, you can get 15 percent off at Satechi when using the code EASTER15, and for orders of $100 or more, they’ll up it to 20 percent with the code EASTER20. Now’s a good time to pick up a new keyboard, mouse, USB-C hub or other accessory while you can get it for less.
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.
Update 4/17/22: Amazon is now matching the sale prices on the Roomba j7+ and the Roomba s9+.
If you missed the last sale on iRobot’s latest robot vacuums, you’re in luck. Both the Roomba j7+ and the Roomba s9+ are $200 off at Wellbots when you use the code ENGMOM200 at checkout. That brings them down to $599 and $799, respectively, which are both close to the best prices we’ve seen on both vacuums.
The newer of the two is the Roomba j7+, which came out at the end of last year. It’s technically not as powerful as the s9+, but it has new AI-driven computer vision technology that helps it detect objects and move around them as it cleans. Because of that, iRobot dubbed this their “pet-poop detecting” robot, and the company even has the Pet Owner Official Promise (or P.O.O.P. for short), which states that you’ll get a new vacuum if the one you bought fails to avoid accidental pet poop in your home.
The Roomba j7+ isn’t the most powerful vacuum in the company’s lineup, but it does have 10x the suction power of a standard Roomba, plus smart mapping, dual multi-surface brushes and more. The “plus” model also comes with a clean base into which the robo-vac will automatically empty its dustbin after each cleaning job.
The Roomba s9+, on the other hand, is the top-of-the-line vacuum from iRobot, and it has 40x the suction power of the standard models, a 3D sensor for object detection and a design that helps it clean room corners more easily. Both it and the Roomba j7+ are compatible with Amazon’s Alexa and the Google Assistant, so in addition to controlling them from the iRobot mobile app, you can also tell them to clean up your home using voice commands.
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Apple’s best sounding earbuds have been discounted on and off throughout the past few months, and now they’re back down to one of the best prices we’ve seen all year. The AirPods Pro are 30 percent off again at Amazon, bringing them down to $175. That’s just about the lowest price we’ve seen since the holiday shopping season (they were $1 cheaper earlier this month) and it puts the Pros back in line with the rest of Apple’s audio lineup, which has been on sale for the past few days.
If over-ear headphones aren’t your thing, the AirPods Pro are your next best bet if you want an Apple device that has above-average audio quality. Not only do the AirPods Pro sound better than the company’s standard earbuds, but they also have strong ANC that blocks out most surrounding noises. And you still get Transparency mode, while lets you hop in and out of conversations easily, and support for spatial audio. They’re also arguably the best AirPods to get if you care about fit, since you can get a more accurate fit for your ear thanks to their interchangeable tips.
The AirPods Pro also have the H1 chip inside, which enables things like hands-free Siri access and quick pairing and switching between Apple devices. It’s one of the biggest draws of AirPods — if you’re steeped in the Apple ecosystem already, these earbuds will work seamlessly with all of your gadgets. The Pros should last for five hours before they need more juice, and you’ll get 24 hours of total listening time when you employ the power kept in its MagSafe charging case.
With the Pros are back on sale, you’ll find that you can get most Apple headphones and earbuds at a discount right now. The new, third-generation AirPods are down to $150 and the second-generation earbuds are on sale for only $100. Even the AirPods Max are cheaper than usual: at the time of writing this, the space gray, blue and silver models are down to $450 thanks to a sale price and an additional coupon that knocks another $29 off their final price.
