It’s Friday, which means it’s time for another look at the best tech deals of the week. This week’s highlights include a small but rare discount on Sony’s PlayStation 5as a package that includes Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is $50 off and down to $450 at Best Buy. If you don’t need a new game console, Apple’s AirPods Pro returned to their lows of $189 while Amazon’s Echo Show 8 and Fire TV Stick 4K Max are at $90 and $40 respectively. A number of recommended Anker accessories are also on sale, including Soundcore Space A40our favorite budget headphones, up to $53, etc PowerConf C200, one of our favorite webcams, down to $48. Here are this week’s best tech deals you can still buy today.
Best Buy sells a PlayStation 5 bundle which pairs the “slim” version of the console with a digital copy of the Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 for $450. That’s only a $50 discount, but steeper price drops are still rare four years into the PS5’s life. We called Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 “perfectly balanced” action game in our review last year. More generally, the PS5 has amassed a decent library of exclusives since its arrival in 2020, with hits like God of War Ragnarok, Horizon Forbidden West, Gran Turismo 7, Return, Helldivers 2 and those just out Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. It still works with almost every PS4 game. The model sold here takes up 30 percent less volume than the original PS5, according to Sony, plus it comes with two USB-C ports instead of one. It also has a disc drive so you won’t be tied down to digital purchases and you can watch Blu-ray movies.
The Anker PowerConf C200 The webcam sells for $48 on Amazon and Anker Online Store, which is $12 off its usual current price and the second best price we’ve seen. At Anker, use the code WS7DKJVFEN checkout. The PowerConf is second in our webcam buying guide thanks to its easy setup, crisp video quality (even in low light), and decent microphones. It can record up to 2K resolution, plus it has a built-in sliding cover for privacy. Just be aware that its USB cable is on the shorter side and the whole thing is a bit fiddly to adjust once it’s set up with no way to swivel it sideways.
The Anker Soundcore Space A40 sells for $53 on Amazon and Anker Online Store; again, on the last one, use the coupon code on the page to see the deal at checkout. That’s just $3 more than the lowest price we’ve tracked, and $26 below the typical street price of wireless headphones. The Space A40 is a top pick in our guide to the best budget wireless headphones. For well under $100, it gets you impressive active noise cancellation (ANC), multi-device pairing, wireless charging, and a solid eight hours of battery life on a single charge. The design is lightweight and comfortable, and the IPX4 water resistance rating means it can survive casual workouts. And while it’s not the most detailed-sounding pair, its warm, slightly boosted bass profile is more than nice for the money. The main drawbacks are the lack of automatic ear detection and the mediocre quality of the microphone for phone calls.
The USB-C version of the Apple’s AirPods Pro is back to $189 on Amazon, matching its all-time low. Apple normally sells these noise-canceling headphones for $249, though they regularly go for lower prices at third-party retailers. Either way, AirPods Pro are the “best of iOS” in our guide to the best wireless headphones. They still offer a host of conveniences when paired with other Apple devices, including hands-free access to Siri, Find My tracking, faster pairing and device switching, spatial audio, and adaptive EQ, among other benefits. Their sound quality is nothing to complain about, and their ANC is still louder than most pairs we’ve tested. The built-in microphones could be better, as could the six-hour battery life, but they remain a top choice for dedicated Apple fans.
Amazon has Keychron C3 Pro keyboard up to $30 with red (linear) or brown (tactile) switches. That’s $2 more than its all-time low, but still $7 below the usual rate. This is a budget mechanical keyboard that we plan to recommend in a future buying guide. It delivers a superior typing experience for the money: the presses feel full and soft, while the gasket-mounted design and foam inner layer keep it from sounding too loud. There are still compromises – it uses lower price ABS keycaps, there’s only red backlighting, and its switches aren’t hot-swappable—but very few keyboards in this ultra-budget price range are as satisfying to type on.
The Anker 622 Magnetic Battery on sale for $35, which is $15 off its typical street price and the second best discount we’ve seen. It’s a thin and light wireless battery that we’ve recommended in the past. It’s compatible with Apple’s MagSafe standard, so it can attach magnetically to the back of any new iPhone. It can only deliver up to 7.5W of power and has a relatively meager 5000mAh capacity, so don’t expect it to charge particularly quickly or fully charge your phone from scratch. It can also become toasty in action. But as a travel-friendly way to squeeze more juice out of a phone that’s about to die, it can come in handy. It supports pass-through charging and comes with a built-in stand beyond that, so it can double as a charging stand when you’re at your desk. There is an anchor faster wireless models that support Qi2 charging, but they cost quite a bit more at the time of writing.
Rounding out the Anker deals, Anker 525 charging station available for $40 on Amazon and Anker.com (use the code WS7DO5OBH8 in the latter case). It’s a relatively compact desktop charger that we tested, and it includes two USB-C ports, two USB-A ports, and three AC outlets. It can split up to 67W of power between the USB ports, which isn’t the best you can get from a device like this, but it’s still enough to charge many smartphones, tablets and thinner laptops at close to full. speed. This $26 discount is the lowest price we’ve seen.
The ASUS ROG ally is $100 off and up to $600 back at Best Buy. This matches the lowest price we’ve seen for this top-of-the-line configuration with AMD’s Ryzen Z1 Extreme processor. The ROG Ally is the top Windows pick in our guide to the best portable gaming systems, and we gave it a score of 82 in our review last July. The Steam Deck OLED is still a better choice for most people looking for a gaming laptop, but the ROG Ally is physically smaller and can handle graphically demanding titles better. Its 7-inch display also has a variable refresh rate of up to 120Hz, so it makes games consistently look smooth on the go. And because it runs on Windows, it works with any PC gaming client right out of the box.
However, this is primarily a device for enthusiasts. Navigating Windows on a handheld is often clunky, and you’ll often have to tinker with settings to get your games to run optimally. Battery life on the ROG Ally is also poor, typically lasting around two hours if not less. However, if you want a handheld to play big-budget games from non-Steam stores, Ally does more good than bad.
ThermoWorks still has its Thermapen One instant-read meat thermometer down to $79 in an exclusive Engadget deal, which isn’t an all-time low, but takes $30 off its list price. We highlight the Thermapen in our guide to the best grilling equipment: It reads temperatures quickly and accurately, its backlit display is easy to read, and it’s dust and water resistant with an IP67 rating. It also sleeps and wakes up automatically. There are cheaper meat thermometers out there, but the One’s faster readings may be worth the extra cost if you consider yourself a grill connoisseur.
The latest iteration of the Amazon’s Echo Show 8 is back to $90 at Best Buy, tying the lowest price yet for the 8-inch Smart Display. That’s $60 below Amazon’s list price, though the device has been marked down multiple times since arriving last September.
The Echo Show 8 remains the best combination of size, price and functionality in Amazon’s range of smart displays: It has a faster chip, a larger screen, louder speakers and a better camera than Echo show 5but it’s much cheaper than the Echo Show 10. It can work with other smart home devices using the Matter, Zigbee and Thread standards, plus it comes with a camera cover and a microphone mute switch — although no device like this will be entirely convenient for those who guard their data. Still, if you accept the premise of an Alexa speaker and want one that can display photos, make video calls, display recipes, etc., this is a decent deal.
The latest version of Amazon’s Fire TV Stick 4K Max streaming stick returned to an all-time low of $40, while the standard Fire TV Stick 4K is within $5 of its best price of $30. Both discounts are about $10 less than the average street prices we’ve seen in recent months. Between the two, the Max has a slightly faster processor, double the internal storage (16GB) and Wi-Fi 6E support for those with a compatible router. However, if these benefits don’t mean much to you, the base model supports all major streaming services and HDR formats, as well as Dolby Atmos audio.
However, any Fire TV device will work best if you regularly use services like Alexa and Prime Video, as Amazon’s Fire OS isn’t shy about pushing you to its own platforms. It’s also loaded with ads. If you want something less Amazon heavy, Roku Streaming Stick 4K and Google Chromecast are great alternatives for about the same price. But if you just want a quick and cheap way to get streaming apps on a slower TV, one of these Fire TV Sticks should do the trick.
I follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying tips.
https://www.engadget.com/the-ps5-slim-spider-man-2-bundle-drops-to-450-plus-the-rest-of-the-weeks-best-tech-deals-162102658.html?src=rss