hgg2019
Latest
What we're buying: Slö reverb pedal and Glarry electric bass
A couple of our editors went on a buying spree over Thanksgiving break, and bought "gifts" for themselves. In a complete coincidence, both Managing Editor Terrence O'Brien and Senior Editor Chris Velazco purchased devices of a musical bent; the Slo Multi Texture Reverb from Walrus Audio and a Glarry electric bass.
Google Nest Hub and WiFi are on sale for the holidays
If you're still trying to finish your holiday shopping, Best Buy has an intriguing offer. The retailer is currently offering a Nest Hub two-pack for $100. Normally, if you were to buy two of them separately, they would cost you $260.
Ask Engadget: Which charities give gifts to those in need?
The support shared among readers in the comments section is one of the things we love most about the Engadget community. Over the years, we've known you to offer sage advice on everything from Chromecasts and cameras to drones and smartphones. In fact, our community's knowledge and insights are a reason why many of you participate in the comments. This week's question asks which are the best gift-giving charities. Weigh in with your advice in the comments -- and feel free to send your own questions along to ask@engadget.com! What charities donate gifts to people in need?
Sony’s stellar WF-1000XM3 wireless earbuds are under $200 at Amazon
Sony's WF-1000XM3 are still the best true wireless earbuds, even though they debuted a few months ago. The combination of great sound quality and powerful noise cancellation put these ahead of the rest of the pack. And they've been more affordable at $230 since they arrived. Well, right now they're an even better value at Amazon. The WF-1000XM3 is down to $198, and that's the best price ever on Amazon for these stellar true wireless earbuds.
Samsung's Galaxy S10 and Galaxy Buds are on sale for $624
Amazon has dropped the price of its Samsung Galaxy bundle to $624. The package includes a Galaxy S10 (unlocked with 128 GB in Prism black), Galaxy Buds and a $50 Amazon gift card. Valued at $1,078, the bundle has most recently been on sale for $850. At this new Cyber Monday price, it's an even better deal (while it lasts).
Get a PS4 Pro and three of its best games for $300 on Amazon
Console deals are everywhere this time of year, but some are better than most. Amazon is offering a PlayStation 4 Pro "Only On PlayStation" bundle with God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn and Spider-Man for just $300 on Cyber Monday. That's substantially below the $338 we've seen recently, and certainly better than the one-game bundles. If you're new to the PS4 and want a primer on some of the top-tier games that defined this console generation, it might be hard to do better.
How to set up a phone or tablet for a child
The days of simply remembering to buy some AA batteries are over. Parents now spend more time in the lead-up to Christmas and birthdays performing system updates and charging controllers than wrapping boxes or installing batteries. But there's another wrinkle in gifting electronics to children that, if you don't get right, will make your life way more difficult than it needs to be: family controls. While it's not for me, or anyone, to dictate your parenting style, I am constantly surprised at how poor a grasp my friends have on their children's electronic lives. Every horror story about a kid racking up hundreds of dollars of in-app purchases is absolutely preventable, and, when used correctly, family plans and controls can serve as a solid way to educate your family on online safety, controlled spending, the power of advertisements and other aspects of digital wellbeing. My family uses iPhones and iPads, so this article will largely focus on those devices, but Google has a similar suite of options for Android, which I'll briefly touch on and link out to for more information.
Oculus Go is on sale for $120 at Amazon for Cyber Monday
Did you pass on the Oculus Go's discounted Black Friday price because it was still a little too dear? Your patience is being rewarded. Amazon is selling the stand-alone VR headset for $120 on Cyber Monday, or another $30 off the already fairly low price of $150. That's the lowest price we've seen, and it makes the Go that much more viable if you want to try VR or just enjoy a private Netflix viewer.
Engadget readers can get DJI's Osmo Action 4K for just $249
We called DJI's Osmo Action 4K camera "a worthy rival" to GoPro's Hero 7 Black, missing only a few options like a GPS, editing and social features. The action cam is available today exclusively for Engadget readers on Cyber Monday at Wellbots at its cheapest price yet.
Get $750 off Dell's loaded Alienware m15 gaming laptop
It took Dell long enough to make a thin and light gaming laptop, but the Alienware m15 was worth the wait. While it's a bit chunkier than rival models at 18mm and 4.8 pounds, the latest m15 model has performance to burn, along with a great display, keyboard and trackpad. For Cyber Monday, Dell has marked down a fully specced out Alienware m15, with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 GPU, top-tier Intel Core i7-9750H CPU, 15.6-inch 1,920 x 1,080 240Hz display, 512GB PCIe m.2 SSD and no less than 32GB of RAM. That's nearly a fully-loaded model with a ray-tracing GPU and a display that's a good fit for it. The extra RAM and good-sized GPU will also be handy for productivity and content creation chores and you've got room for another M.2 and regular SSD, should you need it for video editing chores. Best of all, it costs just $1,399.99 on Dell's website, or a generous $750 off the regular $2,149.99 price.
Get a year of Disney+ for $10 less on Cyber Monday
If you're on the fence about whether to get a Disney+ subscription with access to all the Star Wars movies, Marvel's Cinematic Universe, The Mandalorian and a lot more, now might be the time. A one year Disney+ subscription is now available for $59.99 on Cyber Monday for one day only, or $5 per month. That's $10 off the normal $69.99 price.
TCL's 65-inch 6 Series 4K TV drops to $700 at Best Buy
TV deals are everywhere during the Cyber Monday period, but this is one you might want to consider. Best Buy is selling a 65-inch version of TCL's latest 6 Series TV (the R625) for $700 during the Cyber Monday period, or about $200 less than the usual sticker. That gets you a 4K set with very good picture quality for the money, a Roku smart interface and, of course, a giant screen that should do justice to your high-res content. Just be aware of the quirks -- it might not be suitable for everyone.
Target Cyber Monday deals include a $230 iPad and a $50 Instant Pot
It used to be that Cyber Monday deals were the consolation prizes for those that missed Black Friday, but that doesn't appear to be the case at Target. It's already running a Cyber Monday sale that includes some steep discounts, including one that's even steeper than on Black Friday. Most notably, the 10.2-inch iPad is selling for $230, or $20 less than the already hefty sale price from Friday -- this may be your best shot at getting Apple's no-frills tablet.
Apple offers three-month News+ trials through Black Friday weekend
Apple Music has long had three-month free trials, but what if you want to give News+ a similar dry run? You can -- but only if you act quickly. Apple is offering a three-month trial to News+ to American and Canadian users who sign up through Black Friday weekend. That's much longer than the usual one month, and should give you a considerably better feel for what it's like to read magazines and newspapers on your Apple devices.
TunnelBear discounts a year of VPN service to $50
If you're concerned about the privacy of your internet access or just want to access foreign content like you're a local, a VPN can help -- and thankfully, you might not have to pay early to use one. TunnelBear is running a Black Friday weekend sale that offers a year of VPN service for $50, or just shy of $10 off the usual price. That nets you 256-bit encryption on up to five connected devices with unlimited data, and there won't be logs to help hackers or suspicious governments trace your activity.
Ask Engadget: How can I make a gift card feel more personal?
The support shared among readers in the comments section is one of the things we love most about the Engadget community. Over the years, we've known you to offer sage advice on everything from Chromecasts and cameras to drones and smartphones. In fact, our community's knowledge and insights are a reason why many of you participate in the comments. This week's question asks how to make a nondescript present like a gift card feel special for the receiver. Weigh in with your advice in the comments -- and feel free to send your own questions along to ask@engadget.com! How can I make a gift like a digital code feel more personal?
Engadget readers can save on iRobot Roomba i7 vacuums
If the price of vacuum robots has kept you away from the tech, we may be able to help. We've partnered with Wellbots to provide Engadget readers with an exclusive discount on iRobot's high-end Roomba i7+ and i7 series vacuums.
Save $100 on the Sonos Play:5 on Cyber Monday
In addition to Black Friday discounts on home theater speakers, Sonos is offering Cyber Monday deals that music lovers will appreciate.
Everything in our holiday gift guide that's on sale for Black Friday
The best way to shop on Black Friday is to know what you're looking for. In our case, that means focusing on brands we know our readers love and scouting for deals on products we've recently given high review scores. And, of course, we look for deals on stuff we just recommended in our holiday gift guide, only weeks earlier. So, we went back and revisited all 150-plus recommendations in the guide, to see if we could spot any price drops today, the biggest shopping day of the year. Turns out, we found a lot. Have a look and as always, keep in mind that while prices are accurate as of the time of publishing, they're subject to change and things do sometimes sell out. Oh, and Black Friday doesn't last forever, which means eventually all of these deal prices are bound to revert to the norm.
What to buy for your new 4K TV
It's that time of year -- the one when everyone is looking at a new TV. If you've picked out a brand new 4K set, then congratulations, there's more beautiful HDR -- and not-quite HDR -- footage to experience than ever before. Of course, the journey doesn't end there, and now that you've got your new TV, it's time to think about what you're putting around it. Have you thought about sound, or what remote control you'll use? After more than a decade of reviewing TVs, accessories and watching the sales every year, I have some advice on what else you'll need after the TV is out of the box, so that you can get to the part where you're on the couch enjoying it as fast as possible. All prices listed are accurate as of this writing.
