Nov 25
Unconfirmed reports of lockdowns in at least some districts of the Chinese capital have fueled demand for food and other supplies.
Nov 25
FTC Expected To File Antitrust Lawsuit Against Microsoft On Activision Takeover
Posted in: Today's ChiliMicrosoft’s acquisition of Activision could get hairier soon if the FTC files an antitrust lawsuit against the tech giant. Here’s what both sides are arguing.
Nov 25
It may be tempting to load up on online shopping deals this Black Friday—but before you order a whole new wardrobe or electronics setup, take a moment to think about the trip all those packages may take. International shipping to bring all that stuff to your door is responsible for almost 3% of global greenhouse gas…
Nov 25
Chad Stahleski talks about the influences on John Wick 4. Get a new look at HBO’s The Last of Us. Plus, a look at what’s coming in Doom Patrol’s fourth season, and new pictures from the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. Spoilers, now!
Nov 25
The original Nintendo Entertainment System’s bundled controller is burned into the memories of millions of gamers for its unergonomic boxy corners that dug into your hands and made long gaming sessions a real test of endurance. It’s remembered fondly, but only missed for nostalgic reasons, so 8BitDO turned it into a…
Nov 25
Black Friday is great time to buy a new pair of earbuds, either for yourself or someone on your gift list. A number of Beats headphones are on sale for the biggest shopping day of the year, key among them being the Beats Fit Pro for $160. That’s not quite a record-low price, but it’s pretty close and representative of a 20 percent discount. If you’re set on getting a pair at the best price possible, the Beats Studio Buds are back on sale for a record-low price of $90.
The Beats Fit Pro earned a spot in our best wireless earbuds guide thanks to their comfortable fit, IPX4 rating and solid sound quality. Their IP-rating makes them a good pair for workouts, plus their “fit wing” tip should help them stay in place even during tough HIIT sessions. We also like that they have physical buttons for onboard controls, making it pretty easy to adjust the volume, skip tracks and more.
Sound quality is pretty good on these earbuds — it’s balanced and powerful, with the punchy bass you’d expect to get out of Beats buds. They also support Apple’s spatial audio, and the have the H1 chip inside which gives you many of the conveniences of AirPods. They’ll pair and switch seamlessly with other Apple devices, plus you’ll get hands-free Siri access and Find My location features, too. But they’re not solely for iPhones — there’s plenty of Android support here, making them a good buy for lots of people.
As for the Beats Studio Buds, we gave them a score of 84 for their balanced sound, tiny yet comfortable design and quick-pairing features for iOS and Android devices. We’d ultimately recommend the Beats Fit Pro to most people because they’re newer and have even better sound and features than the Studio Buds, but the latter are a good pick if you only have $100 or less to spend on a new pair of buds.
Get the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday offers by following @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribing to the Engadget Deals newsletter.
Nov 25
The giant TVs and high-end laptops might get the lion’s share of attention on Black Friday, but the smaller tech devices are worth checking out too. We put the cap at $50 and came up with over 20 deals on inexpensive gadgets along with a few peripherals and accessories you’ll need for this year’s higher-end buys. Some gadgets are going for all-time lows, like the new Echo Dot. Others, like the Google Nest Mini and the Roku Streaming Stick 4K are half off their usual price. We added a few storage cards that are seeing big price cuts too, since you can never have too many of those. For less than $50, there’s a lot of great tech out there, and here are the best Black Friday deals we could find.
Amazon Echo Dot
Amazon
When Amazon’s Echo Dot first unveiled its new spherical shape in 2020, we tried it out and thought it was a well-rounded speaker in all senses of the word, awarding it a score of 88. Right now it 50 percent off, putting Amazon’s smallest smart speaker down to just $25, which is the lowest it’s gone since its release. The speaker has the full power of Alexa behind it, letting you control your music, lights, thermostats and more with your voice. The Echo Dot even acts as a WiFi extender, adding up to 1,000 square feet of extra coverage, if you use the brand’s Eero WiFi routers.
Google Nest Mini
If you prefer dealing with the Google Assistant over Alexa, the Google Nest Mini is a good way to go. Right now the smart speakers are just $20 each, which is nearly 60 percent off the usual $49 price tag. Like the Echo Dot, the Nest Mini is a small, round and unobtrusive device that pumps out music and podcasts on demand from a slew of apps (Apple Music, YouTube Music and Spotify among them). You can use it to control other members of your smart home domain, like your Chromecast TV or your Nest Thermostat, and it does a good job pairing up with third party smart home devices too, such as lightbulbs and alarms.
Buy Google Nest Mini at B&H Photo – $20
SanDisk 256GB Ultra microSD
Usually $49, Black Friday brings the price of a SanDisk 256GB Ultra microSD down to just $22, which is a steep 55 percent off and the lowest we’ve ever seen it. If you need a little more storage for your photos, videos and files and more, this gives you room for hours of full HD video and transfer speeds of up to 120MBps.
Buy SanDisk 256GB Ultra microSD at Amazon – $22
Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K
Amazon
To turn just about any screen with an HDMI port into a smart TV, you have options. One of them is Amazon’s Fire TV Stick 4K, which is half price for Black Friday. For just $25, the dongle will stream 4K images to your 4K TV or monitor, while the remote lets you ask for Alexa’s help in finding what to watch. The Fire TV interface is straightforward and is compatible with every streaming service out there.
Buy Fire TV Stick 4K at Amazon – $25
Amazon Fire TV Stick Max
Amazon
If you’ve got a 4K screen and you’ve already upgraded to WiFi 6, you’ll likely want the Fire TV Stick 4K Max. Its down to $35 from its usual $55 price tag, which matches its price during Prime Day in October. In addition to delivering super high def images, it’s also designed to work with the latest WiFi network protocol. If you’re getting it as a gift and aren’t sure if your giftee has WiFi 6, it’ll still work with earlier versions as well. It does everything the other Fire TV sticks do, including turning your TV into a screen for displaying feeds from other Alexa devices like doorbells and cameras.
Buy Fire TV Stick 4K Max at Amazon – $35
Amazon Fire TV Stick Lite
Amazon
For anyone who doesn’t need 4K resolution or WiFi 6 support, the Fire TV Stick Lite is a notably cheap way to convert a screen into a smart TV. It’s just $15 for Black Friday, down from its usual $30. Just keep in mind, while the bargain version of the Fire TV Stick does offer Alexa’s voice assistance, it can’t control the power or volume functions for your set. If you plan on using your TV’s original remote, then that limitation probably isn’t a concern.
Buy Fire TV Stick Lite at Amazon – $15
Blink Video Doorbell
Amazon
Amazon acquired the home monitoring camera company Blink back in 2017 and added its first doorbell just last year. The Blink Video Doorbell is the least expensive doorbell in Amazon’s lineup, and right now is down to $35 from its usual price of $50. You can use it wired to your existing doorbell wiring or run the unit on two AA batteries. Your first set of batteries is included and can last up to two years. The unit wakes up with a doorbell press or when it detects motion, enabling two-way talk. Wiring the unit allows it to activate your built-in doorbell chime. On batteries, you’ll get alerts when someone rings via the Blink app.
Buy Blink Video Doorbell at Amazon – $35
Amazon Fire 7 tablet
Amazon
Already among the cheapest tablets on the market, the Amazon Fire 7 tablet is down to $40 with a 33 percent discount off of its $50 MSRP. While it’s not going to handle intense multitasking or become your go-to productivity slab, it’ll handle casual couch surfing, e-books and streaming your shows. This is the 2022 version of the 7-inch screen, which improves the battery life over the previous model, giving you up to 10 hours of use on a charge.
Buy Fire 7 tablet at Amazon – $40
Roku Streaming Stick 4K
Roku
Right now the Roku Streaming Stick 4K is half price. At just $25, it matches the price of Amazon’s 4K stick, and it’s our current favorite streaming device. With the Roku stick, voice control is handled by your choice of Siri, the Google Assistant or Alexa, and the Roku interface is straightforward with the widest selection of streaming options. We’re also fond of the Roku app, which allows for private listening, which means you can watch a show on the big screen, but have the audio come through your smartphone-connected headphones. The universal search function is also accurate and refreshingly impartial, not prioritizing any one streaming service when you search for shows and movies.
Buy Roku Streaming Stick 4K at Amazon – $25
Amazon Echo Show 5
Amazon
Imagine your bedside alarm clock and a smart display combined forces. That’s the idea behind Amazon’s Echo Show 5. It usually goes for $85, but right now it’s been cut by a substantial 59 percent to make it just $35. As the smallest of Amazon’s smart displays, it’ll fit nicely into small spaces, like small kitchens or a bedside table. And if you’re concerned with the potential creep factor of bringing a camera into the bedroom, there’s a physical camera shutter built-in. We gave the Echo Show 5 a score of 85 in our review, impressed with the quality of sound for its compact size.
Buy Echo Show 5 at Amazon – $35
Blink Mini security camera
Amazon
The Blink Mini security cameras usually retail for $35 each, but the Black Friday sale brings the price of two cameras down to $30. It’s a great time to snag one of these sleek in-home cams for every corner of the house, especially if you’re planning on adding an Echo Show (like the one above) to your smart home landscape. The Blink cameras plug in so you never have to swap the batteries, they offer night vision capabilities and two-way audio.
Buy Blink Mini at Amazon (2-pack) – $30
Anker 511 power bank
Will Lipman Photography for Engadget
Having the ability to recharge a dead phone when you’re far from an outlet feels priceless, but Black Friday puts that price at $25 for Anker’s 511 Power Bank. The compact rectangular prism shape has a retractable plug and short strap to make it easy to store and retrieve from a pack. It’s a 5,000 milliampere hour battery, which should give most modern smartphones one extra charge. Note that it doesn’t come with a cable. You’ll need to supply one with two USB-C connectors or a USB-C-to-lightning cable, depending on the model of your phone. Also, this price on Amazon is only for Prime members, but it’s too great a deal not to mention.
Buy Anker 511 Power Bank at Amazon – $25
Anker 511 charger
Anker
Not all chargers are created equal. Since Apple stopped shipping chargers with their phones, some people learn this when they notice their phones charging unusually slow with lower-power plug. The Anker 511 charger is a 20-watt charger that can deliver full-speed charging to a smartphone and are specifically designed to work with Apple devices. Right now it’s on sale for just $13. Anker’s tests showed late-model iPhones going from zero to 50 percent in 25 minutes. It’s got a USB-C port, for which you’ll need to supply your own charging cable.
Buy Anker 511 Charger at Amazon – $13
Logitech G435 gaming headset
Logitech
Logitech’s G435 gaming headset typically goes for $80, but Black Friday brings it below the $50 threshold at $49.88. They connect via Bluetooth or with the USB-A dongle for a lower-latency wireless connection. The built-in mics allow for in-game chat and post-game Discord discussions. They’ll pair up with a PC and both PlayStation 4 and 5 using the wireless dongle, or via Bluetooth with PC, Mac, and Nintendo Switch. You can pair them with your phone too, but keep in mind these don’t have active noise cancellation.
Buy Logitech G435 gaming headset at Amazon – $49.88
Jabra Elite 3 earbuds
Billy Steele/Engadget
We were impressed with the Jabra Elite 3 earbuds at their list $80 list price, giving them an 88 in our review. Now that they’ve just dipped below $50, it’s a good day to get a pair. We called them the “new standard for affordable wireless earbuds” because they offer detailed and balanced sound with a booming low end. We got right around the estimated seven-hour battery life and liked Jabra’s comfortable new design for the Elite 3 buds. We think they’re an incredible value for the price, especially right now.
Buy Jabra Elite 3 earbuds at Amazon – $49.99
Chromecast with Google TV
Google
Like the Fire TV and Roku sticks above, the Chromecast with Google TV HD turns a “dumb” TV into a smart one, and right now it’s just $20 for Black Friday. When the latest HD model came out this October, we tested it out and liked the straightforward setup and easy interface. Unlike the Fire TV Lite, the Chromecast remote can be programmed to handle TV functions like volume and power. If you’ve got a 4K TV, the Chromecast with Google TV 4K dongle is on sale for $40, down from $50. We reviewed it when it first came out and gave it a score of 86, particularly impressed with the Google Assistant integration.
Buy Chromecast with Google TV HD at B&H Photo – $20Buy Chromecast with Google TV 4K at Amazon – $40
JBL Clip 4
JBL
Usually retailing for $80, the JBL Clip 4 is just $45 right now. The Clip 4 is a portable Bluetooth speaker that can handle life away from the relative safety of home. It’s rated IP67, which means it’s dust-tight and can handle full, but temporary, submersion in water. Delivering 10 hours of playtime on a charge, there’s even a carabiner to clip it to whatever’s at hand for outdoor listening.
Amazon Smart Thermostat
Amazon
Amazon continues to expand their smart home offerings, anchored by Alexa’s increasingly sophisticated AI. The Amazon Smart Thermostat is already one of the more affordable smart thermostats out there with a usual list price of $60. Right now it’s $42 for Black Friday. This model doesn’t come with a C-wire adapter, so you’ll want to check the pop-up compatibility window on the product page to make sure your system will work with the device. If it does, you’ll get an app-controlled thermostat that can potentially save on energy usage.
Buy Amazon Smart Thermostat at Amazon – $42
Razer Kishi mobile controller
Razer
Razer’s Kishi mobile controller turns your smartphone into a Switch-like gaming device. It’s usually $100, but Black Friday is knocking 55 percent off the list price, bringing the sticker to $41.50 for the Android version and $45 for the iPhone version. It connects via your phone’s charging port, as opposed to via Bluetooth, so there’s no wireless latency. Note that this is the original version of the device, not the recently released V2. That version isn’t budging from its $99 MSRP, even for Black Friday.
Buy Razer Kishi mobile controller at Amazon – $41.50
Razer Orochi gaming mouse
Razer
The Razer Orochi gaming mouse has an MSRP of $70, but Black Friday is knocking that down by half. This mobile mouse made the cut in our search for the ultimate productivity mouse. Even though we called it the most “forgettable-looking option,” we were impressed by how lightweight and capable it is. It connects via Bluetooth or wireless dongle and runs on ether an AA or AAA battery, with up to 950 hours on a battery.
Buy Razer Orochi gaming mouse at Amazon – $35
Tile Pro tracker
Tile
The Tile Pro tracker usually goes for $35, but is down to $28 right now. The BlueTooth tracker has a convenient lanyard hole making it ideal for a set of keys, but you can also attach it to a pack or luggage. Regardless of what item you attach it to, the Tile app makes sure that item never goes missing. Using Bluetooth when it’s within 400 feet, you can make the Tile Pro ring to find things that way. When an item is farther away, the Tile app uses the Tile network to locate the item by anonymously pinging the phones of other Tile users.
Buy Tile Pro tracker at Amazon – $28
Kasa smart video doorbell
Kasa
If you want a doorbell that works with either Alexa or the Google Assistant, the Kasa Smart Video Doorbell is on sale for just $42, down from its usual $60. In addition to offering app-controllable two-way audio and 1296p video from the 3MP camera, the Kasa doorbell comes with a plug-in chime to let you know when someone rings your bell. This model doesn’t have a battery option, so it’ll only work by hooking up to your existing doorbell wire.
Buy Kasa Smart Video Doorbell at Amazon – $42
Samsung EVO Select MicroSD card
Samsung
This Samsung microSD card is also on sale, with a 38 percent discount on the 256GB size bringing it down to just $25. It offers transfer speeds of up to 130MBps and even includes a SD adapter so you can use it with more of your devices.
Buy Samsung EVO Select MicroSD card at Amazon – $25
Your Cyber Week Shopping Guide: Get the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday offers by following @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribing to the Engadget Deals newsletter. Also, shop the top Black Friday and Cyber Monday Deals on Yahoo Life. Learn about Black Friday trends on In the Know, and our car experts at Autoblog are covering must-shop Black Friday and Cyber Monday auto deals.
Nov 25
It’s Black Friday, and that means lots of laptops have gone on sale with little indication as to which are actually worth your time. As always, we recommend shopping directly at retailers like Microsoft, Samsung, Dell and others if you want to spec out your next machine. But if you’re willing to get a pre-configured device, there are plenty of great laptop deals to be had for Black Friday. To help you sort through the noise, we’ve highlighted a few deals on laptops we like at prices that are genuinely lower than normal. Here are the best Black Friday laptop deals we’ve been able to find thus far.
Apple MacBook Air M2
Devindra Hardawar/Engadget
Apple’s latest and greatest MacBook Air is back down to $1,049 at multiple retailers, which matches the lowest price we’ve tracked. This is $150 off Apple’s MSRP and about $55 off the notebook’s typical going rate online in recent months.
The M2 MacBook Air is the top pick in our guide to the best laptops, and we gave it a review score of 96 earlier this year due to its revamped design, powerful M2 chip, vibrant 13.6-inch display and long battery life, among other perks. Note that the entry-level configuration here does have slower storage performance than the higher-priced SKUs, but if you aren’t looking to do more involved work like editing high-resolution media, that shouldn’t be a significant hindrance in day-to-day use.
Buy MacBook Air M2 at Amazon – $1,049Buy MacBook Air M2 at B&H – $1,049
Apple MacBook Air M1
Devindra Hardawar/Engadget
If you want a more affordable way into macOS, the 2020 MacBook Air with Apple’s M1 SoC is on sale for $799 at Amazon and Best Buy. We’ve seen this deal a handful of times in recent months, but it still ties the best price we’ve seen and comes in about $90 below this entry-level config’s usual going rate.
We gave the M1 Air a review score of 94 back in 2020. To be clear, paying up for the M2 model will get you thinner bezels, fuller speakers, a better webcam, faster charging and slightly faster raw performance. But the M1 chip is still far from slow for everyday tasks, and the older design still gets you a comfortable keyboard and trackpad, an accurate display and more than enough battery to last a full work day. At this price, it remains an excellent value.
Buy MacBook Air M1 at Amazon – $799
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook
Lenovo
Lenovo’s IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook is on sale for $270 at Amazon, which is a new all-time low and roughly $120 below this 13.3-inch notebook’s typical street price in recent months. We recently named the Flex 5i the top pick in our guide to the best Chromebooks. The Core i3-1115G4 processor, 8GB of RAM and 128GB SSD included in this config offers more than enough performance for Chrome OS, and in general the device’s backlit keyboard, bright 1080p touchscreen, mix of USB-C and USB-A ports and eight-hour battery life impress for the price.
Buy Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook at Amazon – $270
Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2
Sam Rutherford/Engadget
Microsoft’s Surface Laptop Go 2 is back down to $600 for a configuration with a Core i5-1135G7 processor, 8GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD. That’s $100 off Microsoft’s MSRP, about $50 off the usual street price and tied for the best price we’ve tracked. We gave this 12.4-inch notebook a review score of 86 earlier this year, and we’ve since included it in our guide to the best cheap Windows laptops. You can get a sharper display and more performance from other laptops in this price range, and the lack of keyboard backlighting is a bummer, but the lightweight build has a more premium feel than most notebooks in this price range, and the notebook itself is still fast and long-lasting for casual work on the go.
Buy Surface Laptop Go 2 at Amazon – $600Buy Surface Laptop Go 2 at Microsoft – $600
Razer Blade 14
A configuration of Razer’s Blade 14 with an AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX chip, 16GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD and an RTX 3080 GPU is currently down to $2,000 at Amazon. That’s about $300 off its typical street price and tied for the best price we’ve tracked. We gave the Blade 14 a review score of 84 last year, and we’ve recommended the similar Blade 15 in recent buying guides and gift guides. It can run a bit hot, and you can still get similarly powerful gaming laptops for less, but it still puts enough power to play demanding games at higher settings in a slim and slick-feeling design that weighs less than four pounds.
Buy Razer Blade 14 at Amazon – $2,000
Microsoft Surface Laptop 5
Sam Rutherford/Engadget
The 8GB RAM/512GB SSD version of Microsoft’s 13.5-inch Surface Laptop 5 is now on sale for $1,000, which is $300 off Microsoft’s MSRP and tied for the best price we’ve seen. We gave this one a review score of 83 earlier this year, praising its elegant chassis, bright 3:2 display, Thunderbolt 4 port and competent performance. The 720p webcam is passable at best, and there are definitely more performant laptops for the money, but if you’re partial to the Surface design language, it’s still a step up from the Surface Laptop Go 2 above. A configuration with 256GB of storage was briefly available for $700 earlier this week, but that’s now priced at $900.
Buy Surface Laptop 5 at Amazon – $1,000Buy Surface Laptop 5 at Microsoft – $1,000
HP Spectre x360 13.5-inch
HP
A variant of HP’s 13.5-inch Spectre x360 with a Core i5-1235U processor, 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD is currently available for $862 at HP’s online store, which is about $300 off its usual going rate and one of the better prices we’ve tracked. Just note that you’ll have to manually configure the RAM and SSD and use the coupon code STOCKING5 before checkout. This isn’t a formal pick of ours in any guides, but it’s a fine 2-in-1 option with a thin and light design, comfortable keyboard and trackpad and strong battery life. It does come with a good chunk of bloatware, though, and the 1920×1280 IPS display in this config could stand to be sharper and brighter.
Buy HP Spectre x360 13.5-inch at HP – $862
Samsung Galaxy Book 2 Pro
A configuration of Samsung’s 13.3-inch Galaxy Book 2 Pro with a Core i5-1240P CPU, 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD is down to $750, which is another all-time low and $200 off the device’s typical street price. While not a top pick of ours, this is a decent alternative if you’re looking for a vibrant OLED panel and a particularly thin and light design. Its keyboard isn’t the best, though, and the display’s 16:9 aspect ratio isn’t as convenient for work and web browsing as a 3:2 panel. If you want a similar model in a 2-in-1 design, Samsung’s Galaxy Book 2 Pro 360 is available for the same price with twice the RAM and storage — though that model has a lower-quality 720p webcam.
Buy Samsung Galaxy Book 2 Pro at Amazon – $750Buy Samsung Galaxy Book 2 Pro at B&H – $750
Your Cyber Week Shopping Guide: Get the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday offers by following @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribing to the Engadget Deals newsletter. Also, shop the top Black Friday and Cyber Monday Deals on Yahoo Life. Learn about Black Friday trends on In the Know, and our car experts at Autoblog are covering must-shop Black Friday and Cyber Monday auto deals.
Nov 25
Colorado Democrats have questioned why law enforcement did not use the law after the shooting suspect was arrested following a bomb threat in 2021.
Nov 25
The Le Mans Living Legend Was A Retro Inspired Sports Car Porsche Should Have Sold
Posted in: Today's ChiliIn “Porsche Unseen,” the automaker details a fantastic concept car that should have been. The Le Mans Living Legend is a sports car with serious style.
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