At CES 2026, Swedish furniture giant Ikea showed off its new Kallsup Bluetooth speaker, which will cost just $10 in the U.S. Normally, I'd be skeptical of any speaker this cheap, but the Kallsup grabbed my attention for a few reasons—chief among them that Ikea says you can chain up to 100 of them together to create the multi-speaker setup of your dreams. That aside, the hardware seems pretty basic: The speaker has a USB-C port at the back, and two buttons up top (play/pause, and pair).

Chaining together Bluetooth speakers is nothing new, but this is the first time I'm seeing the ability to pair as many as 100 of them. The only reason this use case is even remotely plausible is the pricing: As reported by The Verge, the Kallsup Bluetooth speaker will be priced at $10 in the U.S. and €5 (roughly $6) in Europe, which means you can buy 10 of them for the same price as one HomePod mini. The Verge also says that once you pair one of them to your phone (the company promises Bluetooth 5.3 support), you can add more to the chain with a two-button sequence.

Design-wise, the speakers are cubical and colorful, which I'm a fan of (at the moment, Ikea is showing them off in white, green, and pink). But how do they sound? Well, Gizmodo says that while they are loud, they don't deliver much in the way of bass. I'd love to get a couple to judge for myself before committing to chaining a few dozen of them together, but I definitely admire Ikea's big swing here. That said, while CES is the place to grab attention with out-there ideas, and I am struggling to find a use case for chaining 100 Bluetooth speakers together. Maybe if you're an amusement park owner and you want the cheapest possible audio setup for a haunted house? Likely most people will be content with a more reasonable number of them, spread around the house.

Plenty of people have been asking for a MacBook with a touchscreen display, and now that is possible with the Intricuit Magic Screen, according to an announcement at CES 2026. It's a snap-on accessory that attaches to your MacBook's display, and uses one of the USB-C ports on the laptop for power. Once connected, you can touch the Magic Screen and your input will be registered on the Mac.

The good news is that this product ships with a stylus, which will make it a lot easier to interact with different Mac apps. When you tap something on your iPhone or iPad, the UI takes into account the fact that your fingers are a lot thicker than a mouse pointer. On the Mac, the default input is the mouse cursor, so the Magic Screen's stylus is better suited to those interactions than using your fingers. Having said that, you can use your fingers with this touchscreen accessory too.

Keep in mind that using a snap-on touchscreen accessory has a few caveats. The first is that you can't quickly close your MacBook's lid when the Magic Screen is attached. The company has added a thick piece of plastic to the base of the accessory. This part rests just above your MacBook's keyboard and it'll stop you from accidentally closing your laptop's lid with the Magic Screen attached. This ensures that you won't accidentally damage your laptop'd display by slamming the lid shut when the accessory is attached.

It also means that you'll always have to unplug the Magic Screen when you're not using the Mac, which can be a bit annoying. Intricuit says it also works in pen tablet mode, so you can place the Magic Screen on your desk and use your stylus to draw something or to control the Mac. This accessory's battery will last up to 100 hours on a single charge, the company claims.

Intricuit announced this product at CES 2026 and said the Magic Screen will be on Kickstarter soon at a launch price of $139. The company says it expects to start shipping the product in the first quarter of 2026. It currently supports the 16-inch M-series MacBook Pro, 14-inch M-series MacBook Pro, 15-inch M-series MacBook Air, and 13-inch M-series MacBook Air models. You'll just need to choose the correct variant for your laptop while placing the order.

Anker launched a pair of "2-in-1" earbuds under its Soundcore brand at CES 2026, and it has a unique feature: They can be worn in two ways by adjusting the ear hooks. When you want active noise cancellation, you can wear it in-ear, and when you don't, you can adjust the hooks for an open-ear design. This quirky product is called the Soundcore Aerofit 2 Pro—and you can already buy it for $150, which includes a launch discount of $30.

When it comes to CES announcements, I'm always wary of vaporware, aka products that are announced but never shipped. That's why I keep an eye out for products with a shorter launch window so you can actually get your hands on the things you're excited about. The Soundcore Aerofit 2 Pro is one of those products. As Anker itself admits on the product page, the Aerofit 2 Pro isn't for everyone. The biggest quirk of this product is its size. It's a lot bigger than most ANC earbuds, and the ear hooks go all the way around your ears, which isn't a fit that works for everyone. The charging case is also quite large, when compared with other ANC earbuds: It's 4.23 inches (11cm) wide, and it supports wireless charging.

Credit: Soundcore

Most noise-cancelling headphones let you switch to a listening mode that allows ambient sounds via software, but the Aerofit 2 Pro lets you do this by physically twisting the earbuds. This adjustment seems quite seamless based on the demo video on the product page, but I haven't tested it in-person, so I'll reserve my judgment until I do. There are five levels of adjustment for the ear hooks, with levels 1 and 2 reserved for open-ear listening, and 4 and 5 for noise cancellation. Level 3 maintains your previous listening mode to prevent accidentally switching to a different mode.

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Clicks, the company behind those physical keyboard cases for your smartphone, has announced a new device, but it'll look pretty familiar to anyone who's used a Blackberry before. It's called the Clicks Communicator, and it's a pocketable little handset that's perfect for anyone who misses having physical buttons on their phone. It comes with a full, old-school style QWERTY keyboard and runs Android 16, and while you can pump it full of apps and use it standalone, Clicks says it expects many of its customers will prefer to use it as a minimalistic companion to a primary smartphone. In that way, this device is designed to be your secondary smartphone, where you only load it with the apps you need at a moments notice and use it to quickly reply to your messages, emails, and other important notifications.

The Clicks Communicator is a modern Blackberry

Credit: Clicks

One of the headlining features of the Clicks Communicator is the Signal LED, which is a notification light around the side button. You can set it to light up with a different color based on who's pinged you or which apps are sending you notifications, so you can know what needs your attention first without having to scroll through a long series of notification boxes. For instance, you could set up a green LED for notifications from people you care about, and use other colors for different apps. I'm not entirely sure how this'll play out in practice, because I do worry that I'll forget which color is for what after a point. Fortunately, Clicks says you can also turn off the Signal LED if it's not useful for you (and yes, there will still be traditional notification boxes if you need them).

As for the core experience, in line with its design philosophy, the company has chosen not to show you an app grid when you go to the home screen. In collaboration with Niagara Launcher, Click has instead built a messaging hub, which shows you all your pending alerts on the home screen, grouped by app. You can use the keyboard to triage these messages or to reply to individual chats, the company says.

There's also a lot of emphasis on the keyboard, as is expected from a company that went viral by launching a physical keyboard case for touchscreen phones. Clicks says the keys on the Communicator are bigger and better than those on its keyboard case. There's a red Clicks key on the keypad, which you can use to launch custom shortcuts. The Spacebar has a built-in fingerprint sensor, which could be handy for unlocking the phone quickly. The keypad is touch-sensitive, which means that you can slide your fingers over it to scroll through messages. And before you ask, yes, it also has a 4.03-inch OLED touchscreen display for those of us who like scrolling on a smoother surface.

Some of you may also be pleased to know that the Clicks Communicator has a 3.5mm headphone jack and that it supports microSD cards for storage expansion. It ships with 256GB storage and you can add a microSD card with up to 2TB of capacity.

The device runs Android 16, supports Qi2 wireless charging, has a USB-C port, and has a 50-MP rear camera with optical image stabilization, alongside a 24-MP front camera. It's powered by a 4nm MediaTek chip that has 5G support. It's a dual-SIM phone with one physical SIM slot and an eSIM, so you could use it on its own instead of as the "complementary product" its pitched as, but taking calls or using certain apps could be tricky on such a small device.

If you want a Clicks Communicator, you can reserve one now for $399 + $30 for shipping and duties. The launch price is expected to be $499, which means that pre-orders get a $100 discount. The device also has swappable back covers, and the company is offering two back covers for free with pre-orders.

A Magsafe power bank with a sliding keyboard

Credit: Clicks

For everyone that just wants to add physical keys to their existing phone, Clicks has also launched a magnetic wireless power bank with a built-in sliding physical keyboard. This is one of the more quirky products I've seen from this year's pre-CES announcements, but it could make for a great middle ground for everyone who doesn't want the Communicator.

I wasn't a big fan of wired power banks back in the day, but the advent of magnetic wireless charging has changed that, and now I'm itching to slap one onto my iPhone. Throwing a slide-out Bluetooth keyboard into the mix just sweetens the pot, even if it is a bit of a heavy package overall, at 180g. And because of that wireless Bluetooth connection, you can also use the keyboard with your phone, tablet, TV, or gaming console, if you like. The charger doesn't need to be physically attached to a device for its keyboard to work with it, and the device as a whole works with both Apple and Android.

There is a downside, though. The Clicks Power Keyboard has a 2,150mAh battery, and it only supports 5W Qi wireless charging. That's a very slow charger by today's standards, but the good news is that your smartphone is less likely to overheat with those charging speeds. It's priced at $80 for pre-orders and is expected to start shipping this Spring.

For a comparison, you could get an Anker wireless power bank for around $55. This one weighs 4.3oz (120g), offers faster 15W charging, and has a higher battery capacity (5,000mAh). You don't get a physical keyboard with most power banks in the market, so Clicks is banking on that to power sales of its Power Keyboard.

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Pebble, the early smartwatch pioneer, has added a new model to its relaunched lineup, and it’s the thin, round model Pebble fans have been waiting for. What’s even more intriguing to me is the fact that the Pebble Round 2 doesn’t have a heart rate sensor, signaling that a smartwatch doesn’t have to be a fitness watch, too. The Pebble Round 2 starts shipping in May, and is available for pre-order now at $199.

The new watch is meant to be a modern remake of 2015’s Pebble Time Round. Pebble fans loved the round watch, and every thread about new products on the Pebble subreddit has at least a few comments begging for a new version of it. That wish has been granted. (I did notice that Pebble’s website had a teaser telling people who visited the website to “check back around” to see what’s in today’s announcement. Cute.)

What’s in the Pebble Round 2

The Pebble Round 2 is a round smartwatch in a stainless steel frame. It’s about the same size and shape as the old Pebble Time Round, but has a much larger display area with nearly double the resolution, better visibility at an angle, a dramatically increased battery life, and—unusually for smartwatches these days—no heart rate sensor. The specs include: 

• 10 to 14 day battery life

• 42 millimeter size, 8 millimeters thick (that’s thinner than every Apple Watch)

• Color e-paper screen (the same technology Garmin calls MIP)

• 1.3-inch screen with 260x260 resolution

• Dual microphones for voice input

• Accelerometer

• Magnetometer

• Touchscreen

• Takes a 20 mm watch band (black and brushed silver models), or a 14 mm watch band (brushed silver and rose gold models)

• Works with iOS and Android

• Tracks steps and sleep

Eric Migicovsky, founder of both the original Pebble company and its modern incarnation Core Devices, told me the e-paper screen is the same one Garmin used in its old Forerunners. You may recall that I think the Forerunner 255 is one of the best-kept secrets in the smartwatch world, and that MIP screens have some advantages over the AMOLED displays that are more common these days. 

I’ll say more about this below, but the lack of a heart rate sensor is an interesting choice. The Pebble Round 2 can still track steps and sleep by sensing motion, so it’s not like health tracking features are totally missing. But it’s not going to measure your heart rate during workouts, nor try to capture heart rate and HRV while you sleep.

How the Pebble Round 2 bucks the smartwatch trend (and why that’s probably a good thing)

This is a really interesting list of specs, to me. Microphones for voice input are a new trend that’s been rolling out to more and more watches (both Garmin and Coros added them to more models this year). The battery life is a nice improvement, since the old Pebble Time Round only had about three days of battery life, and even today's smartwatches often struggle to get more than a few days. The thin build is impressive—I believe it’s the thinnest on the market right now. 

But some aspects feel retro. The display technology is an older one that has seemd like it was on its way out. And the thing that I can barely wrap my head around as a fitness-focused writer is how do you release a smartwatch in 2026 that doesn’t have a heart rate sensor? This is madness! Or…is it?  

Over the past few years, maybe the past decade, smartwatches and fitness watches have been converging on each other. It seems like each device wants to be able to say “we have that feature too!” so Oura now tracks activities instead of just sleep, Whoop tracks steps instead of just heart rate and HRV, and Apple—always willing to be seen as a fitness company, but always lagging behind on fitness features—finally, in 2025, gave us a real fitness app. Every watch these days has a heart rate sensor, every brand is ditching MIP style screens for AMOLED ones, and there’s no longer any categorical difference between smartwatches and fitness watches. Everything tries to do everything.

This trend isn’t necessarily good for users. For example: Garmin needed to add more features to the Forerunner 265 to justify a new model, but it already had pretty much everything a runner could ask for, at an already-premium price. So Garmin added a speaker and microphone to create the 570, and raised the price by $100. Should a middle-of-the-road running watch really cost $550? 

By contrast, the Pebble Round 2 leans into the things it’s good at (thin build, e-paper screen, microphone for input) and leaves off the things that, in theory, Pebble Round 2 users don’t care about. It’s missing both a heart rate sensor and a speaker, but its rectangular sibling the Pebble Time 2 has both. These two models sell for $199 and $225, respectively.

I’m cautiously optimistic that Pebble’s approach might signal a change in the trend. Migicovsky wrote in a postmortem on the original Pebble company’s failure that Pebble could have kept its niche as “the smartwatch for hackers” but tried to be too many things to too many people. (In that same blog post, written in 2017 and updated in 2022, Migicovsky notes that the smartwatch market of 2015 was moving toward fitness, but Pebble wasn’t a fitness company and arguably shouldn’t have tried to be one.)

“People want different things,” Migicovsky told me in a call earlier this week. He’s focusing Pebble’s new products on things he would want to use, not on what he thinks everybody else wants. That could be a risky move, since I’m not convinced that there’s a huge market for a heart-rate-less smartwatch. But I think he might be right that the smartwatch market is ready to stop being everything to everybody. 

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Philips Hue is one of the most well-respected and popular brands in smart lights—but what about its smart security cameras? Parent company Signify has been developing Hue cameras for a couple of years now, with a video doorbell and 2K camera upgrades recently added to the portfolio of devices. (Note: This 2K version hasn't yet landed in the U.S., but the existing 1080p versions are quite similar.)

I got a chance to test out the new 2K Hue Secure camera, and alongside all the basics of a camera like this, it came with an extra bonus that worked better than I expected: seamless integration with Philips Hue lights. These two product categories actually work better together than you might think.

While you can certainly connect cameras and lights across a variety of smart home platforms, Philips Hue is one of very few manufacturers making both types of device (TP-Link is another). That gives you a simplicity and interoperability you don't really get elsewhere.

Setting up a Hue camera

All the basic security camera features are covered. Credit: Lifehacker

Hue cameras are controlled inside the same Hue app for Android or iOS as the Hue lights. You don't necessarily need a Hue Bridge to connect the camera, too, as it can link to your wifi directly, but the Bridge is required if you want it to be able to sync with your lights—which is one of the key features here. (If you already have the lights, you'll already have the Bridge anyway.)

The 2K Hue Secure wired camera I've been testing comes with a 2K video resolution (as the name suggests). two-way audio, a built-in siren, infrared night vision, and weatherproofing (so you can use it indoors or out). As well as the wired version I've got here, there's also a battery-powered option, and a model that comes with a desktop stand.

Once configured, the camera lives in the same Home tab inside the mobile app as any Philips Hue lights you've got. The main panel doesn't show the camera feed—instead, it shows the armed status of the camera, which can be configured separately depending on whether you're at home or not. The idea is that you don't get disturbed with a flurry of unnecessary notifications when you're moving around.

The basic functionality is the same as every other security camera: Motion is detected and you get a ping to your phone with details, with a saved clip of the event that stays available for 24 hours. You can also tap into the live feed from the camera at any time, should you want to check in on the pets or the backyard.

As is often the case with security cameras, there is an optional subscription plan that gives you long-term video clip storage, activity zone settings, and AI-powered identification of people, animals, vehicles, and packages. That will set you back from $4 a month, with a discount if you pay for a year at a time.

Syncing a camera with smart lights

Your cameras can be used as customized triggers for your lights. Credit: Lifehacker

I started off a little unsure about just how useful it would be to connect up the Hue cameras and Hue lights—it's not a combination that gets talked about much—but it's surprisingly useful. If you delve into the camera settings inside the Hue app, there's a Trigger lights section especially for this.

You get to choose which of your lights are affected—they don't all have to go on and off together—and there are customizations for color and brightness across certain time schedules. You could have your bulbs glowing red during the night, for example, or turning bright blue during the daytime. The duration the lights stay on for can also be set.

It's not the most sophisticated system, but it works: If someone is loitering around your property, you can have a selected number of lights turn on to put them off, or to suggest that someone is in fact at home. This is in addition to everything else you can do, including sounding a siren through the camera, and because it works through the Hue Bridge it all happens pretty much instantaneously.

You can also set specific cameras as basic motion sensors for you and your family—lighting up the way to the bathroom late at night, for example. This can work even when the system is disarmed, so there's no wifi video streaming happening, but the cameras are still watching out for movement and responding accordingly.

There's one more option worth mentioning in the security settings in the Hue app: "mimic presence." This can randomly turn your lights on and off at certain points in the day, and the schedule you choose can be controlled by whether or not your Hue security is armed or disarmed (so nothing happens when everyone is at home).

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Black Friday sales officially start Friday, November 28, and run through Cyber Monday, December 1, and Lifehacker is sharing the best sales based on product reviews, comparisons, and price-tracking tools before it's over. 

• Follow our live blog to stay up-to-date on the best sales we find.

• Browse our editors’ picks for a curated list of our favorite sales on laptops, fitness tech, appliances, and more.

• Subscribe to our shopping newsletter, Add to Cart, for the best sales sent to your inbox.

• Sales are accurate at the time of publication, but prices and inventory are always subject to change. 

Back in the pre-pandemic days of 2019, I was looking for a universal travel adapter to accompany me across the world. I stumbled upon this older one by Epicka and bought it almost without thinking, something I rarely do. That turned out to be one of my best purchase decisions ever, because that travel adapter is still going strong. I've taken it to multiple countries and have used it extensively while traveling to remote locations in India, where you don't always have a reliable power supply. Last year, I gave it away to a friend I met during a meditation retreat, and she's been happily using it since then.

This is the first time I've had a travel adapter for that long. I'd bought a few crappy ones before and they couldn't always reliably charge multiple devices or last very long. This Epicka unit was quite impressive in that regard, but it did have a couple of limitations. It was a fairly slow charger, and it had only one USB-C port. I've been looking to upgrade to a better travel adapter for about a year now, and I think I'm going to do it this time. Epicka has another model with three USB-C ports and support for up to 75W charging, which makes it ideal for me. That one is now down to its lowest ever price in an early Black Friday deal.

Epicka Universal Travel Adapter, GaN 75W

$45.00 at Amazon

$60.00 Save $15.00

Get Deal

Get Deal

$45.00 at Amazon

$60.00 Save $15.00

Even at the deal price of $45 (15% off), it is a bit pricey, but I think the premium is worth paying for a fast charger from a brand with a good track record. I will say that this product is a bit bulky and some people will prefer to travel with a more compact charging adapter, but its size never bothered me much. You also get two USB-A ports (one on each side) in this adapter, which is good for those with older charging cables.

This Epicka universal travel adapter has a 4.8 rating on Amazon, with a total of 336 reviews at time of writing. The general consensus among Amazon reviewers is that this is a great product. One review says that if you charge multiple devices, this adapter splits power evenly across the devices, which means that all devices will be charged reasonably quickly. It has plugs for the US, UK, Australia, and EU, and a nice locking mechanism to keep the plugs in place.

Note, though, that if you're planning to use high-wattage electronics such as hair dryers with this adapter, then it's not for you. This adapter is also not a voltage converter, so be sure to check if your electronics ship with a built-in converter when using the Epicka adapter in other countries. Most phone and laptop chargers are dual voltage, so you probably won't have to worry about it much, but safety first.

How long do Black Friday deals really last?

Black Friday sales officially begin Friday, November 28, 2025, and run throughout “Cyber Week,” the five-day period that runs from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday, December 1, 2025. But Black Friday and Cyber Monday dates have expanded as retailers compete for customers. You can get the same Black Friday sales early, and we expect sales to wind down by December 3, 2025. 

Are Black Friday deals worth it?

In short, yes, Black Friday still offers discounts that can be rare throughout the rest of the year. If there’s something you want to buy, or you’re shopping for gifts, it’s a good time to look for discounts on what you need, especially tech sales, home improvement supplies, and fitness tech. Of course, if you need to save money, the best way to save is to not buy anything. 

Are Cyber Monday deals better than Black Friday?

Black Friday used to be bigger for major retailers and more expensive tech and appliances, while Cyber Monday was for cheaper tech and gave smaller businesses a chance to compete online. Nowadays, though, distinction is almost meaningless. Every major retailer will offer sales on both days, and the smart move is to know what you want, use price trackers or refer to guides like our live blog that use price trackers for you, and don’t stress over finding the perfect timing.

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.

Black Friday sales officially start Friday, November 28, and run through Cyber Monday, December 1, and Lifehacker is sharing the best sales based on product reviews, comparisons, and price-tracking tools before it's over. 

• Follow our live blog to stay up-to-date on the best sales we find.

• Browse our editors’ picks for a curated list of our favorite sales on laptops, fitness tech, appliances, and more.

• Subscribe to our shopping newsletter, Add to Cart, for the best sales sent to your inbox.

• Sales are accurate at the time of publication, but prices and inventory are always subject to change. 

When buying a new device, it takes me a long time to actually click the "buy" button. I grew out of using my iPhone and Mac to read ebooks a few years ago, but I waited until this year to finally grab the e-reader I'd been eyeing since 2020. It's the Kindle Paperwhite, which I bought on discount a few months ago. I love it, which is why I'm happy to report that it's now on sale for Black Friday and is down to its lowest ever price.

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (Ad-Supported)

$125.00 at Amazon

$160.00 Save $35.00

Get Deal

Get Deal

$125.00 at Amazon

$160.00 Save $35.00

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (Ad-Free)

$145.00 at Amazon

$180.00 Save $35.00

Get Deal

Get Deal

$145.00 at Amazon

$180.00 Save $35.00

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition

$150.00 at Amazon

$200.00 Save $50.00

Get Deal

Get Deal

$150.00 at Amazon

$200.00 Save $50.00

SEE 0 MORE

I know what you might be about to say, but buying a Kindle doesn't mean that you're forced to opt into Amazon's ebook ecosystem. I've successfully de-Amazoned my Kindle, and it's been going fine so far. You have lots of Amazon alternatives to buy ebooks, and I've made the most of the opportunity to read many of the DRM-free ebooks purchased over the years. The Kindle Paperwhite itself is a great device, too. It's quite snappy and doesn't show any performance issues even if you turn a lot of pages back-to-back.

It's water-resistant, which means that you can use it by the pool, beach, or even while doing the dishes. And yes, there was a time when I got so locked into a book that I actually was reading the series even while doing the dishes. It was a bit annoying to stop and turn the page every minute or so, but the point is that I never worried about causing any water damage to my Kindle Paperwhite.

Yes, there is a cheaper Kindle, too, but it lacks water resistance and has about half the battery life of a Paperwhite, which makes it less appealing to me. If you can afford to do so, I think buying the Kindle Paperwhite is the smart choice. But there still are a few more decisions to factor in. One is the color. The Paperwhite is available in black, green, and pink colors and all are currently at their lowest ever price. Once you've figured out your color, you need to choose if you're buying your Kindle with ads or ad-free. I always recommend spending the extra 20 bucks to get the ad-free version, but if lock screen ads don't bother you, then you can get the lower priced model.

The third and final choice is whether you want to stretch your budget for the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition. This variant has 32GB of built-in storage (double that of the regular Paperwhite), an auto-adjusting front light, and support for wireless charging. It's just $5 more than the ad-free Kindle Paperwhite at time of writing, and it's worth remembering that this variant also doesn't have ads.

Personally, I think the choice is really between an ad-supported Paperwhite at $125 or an ad-free Paperwhite Signature Edition at $150. Both are great devices, so no matter what, you can't really go wrong.

How long do Black Friday deals really last?

Black Friday sales officially begin Friday, November 28, 2025, and run throughout “Cyber Week,” the five-day period that runs from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday, December 1, 2025. But Black Friday and Cyber Monday dates have expanded as retailers compete for customers. You can get the same Black Friday sales early, and we expect sales to wind down by December 3, 2025. 

Does Amazon have Black Friday deals?

Yes, Amazon has Black Friday sales, but prices aren’t always what they seem. Use a price tracker to make sure you’re getting the best deal, or refer to guides like our live blog that use price trackers for you. And if you have an Amazon Prime membership, make the most of it.

Are Black Friday deals worth it?

In short, yes, Black Friday still offers discounts that can be rare throughout the rest of the year. If there’s something you want to buy, or you’re shopping for gifts, it’s a good time to look for discounts on what you need, especially tech sales, home improvement supplies, and fitness tech. Of course, if you need to save money, the best way to save is to not buy anything. 

We may earn a commission from links on this page.

Google’s Pixel Watch 4 starts shipping this week, and it’s got a few nice little improvements over the Pixel 3. I’ve started testing the new watch for a forthcoming review, and I wanted to share my thoughts on how the device compares so far. Here are three changes I already love.

I love the new charging dock

Credit: Beth Skwarecki

The new charging dock is a big improvement over the older style of charger. Previously, we had to make do with a magnetic puck at the end of a cord, with four little pins on the puck. You’d need to stick it to the back of the watch, and make sure to align the cord to the side with the crown. 

Many smartwatches have a charger in approximately the same format—the Galaxy Watch and the Apple Watch are similar. It’s OK, I guess, though these chargers tend to be more convenient when you have a stand to put them in (here’s one that fits the Pixel Watch 3). 

This new dock is different, and I much prefer it. It sits on your desk or nightstand. To charge the watch, you just pop it in there sideways, crown up. The display remains visible while charging (telling you the time and battery status) and the watch band is tucked out of the way. No longer will your watch be flipping around on the desk while you try to find a good spot for it.

Ultra fast charging works even better than advertised

Google boasts that the Pixel Watch 4 can go from 0 to 50% in about 15 minutes. I tested that and found it performed even better than advertised: The watch went from 10% to 60% in 12 minutes, and was up to 82% (72% added) in 19 minutes. I’m impressed.

The display is bigger even though the watch is the same size

The biggest thing you’ll notice about the Pixel Watch 4 is the expanded display, even on the same size of watch. In these photo I have placed the Pixel Watch 3 (gray band) next to the Pixel Watch 4 (yellow band—they call this color “lemongrass”). I turned on the flashlight app, and you can see a difference in the display size already: 

Pixel Watch 3 on left (gray band), Pixel Watch 4 on right (yellow band) Credit: Beth Skwarecki

The display is also now domed, although to be clear, the exterior shape of the watch hasn’t changed (at least not that I can tell). To show you what I mean, here’s how the two watches look when displaying the Concentric face, which got a redesign for the Pixel Watch 4. I actually think the older version looks nicer, but that’s not really the point: The seconds around the edge of the face actually appear to go over the rounded portion, rather than staying inside of it. It’s a cute detail. 

Pixel Watch 3 on left (gray band), Pixel Watch 4 on right (yellow band) Credit: Beth Skwarecki

I'll have more thoughts on the Pixel Watch 4 in my full review, coming soon.

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Amazon Big Deal Days is coming October 7-8, and Lifehacker is sharing the best sales based on product reviews, comparisons, and price-tracking tools before it’s over.

• Follow our live blog to stay up to date on the best sales we find.

• Subscribe to our shopping newsletter, Add to Cart, for the best sales sent to your inbox.

• New to Prime Day? We have a primer on everything you need to know. Sales are accurate at the time of publication, but prices and inventory are always subject to change.

After years of debating whether I need an ebook device, I finally bought a Kindle Paperwhite during Amazon's (other) Prime Day sale a few months ago. I'm pretty happy with my purchase, and with my decision to de-Amazon my Kindle. If you're looking to buy a Kindle during Amazon's ongoing October Prime Day sale, you have many models to choose from, and I'll walk you through all of them.

Kindle 

Amazon Kindle (ad-supported)

$84.99 at Amazon

$109.99 Save $25.00

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$84.99 at Amazon

$109.99 Save $25.00

Amazon Kindle (without ads)

$104.99 at Amazon

$129.99 Save $25.00

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$104.99 at Amazon

$129.99 Save $25.00

The most affordable Amazon Kindle (with lockscreen ads) is currently going for $85 (list price $110), which matches its lowest-ever price, according to price-checking tools. If ads are a no-go, you can buy the Kindle (without ads) at $105 (list price $130), which is also the lowest ever price seen since its launch.

I seriously considered getting this version of the Kindle over the Paperwhite because it has a similar 300ppi display and it's a lot cheaper. Ultimately, I went with the Paperwhite because I like having the screen flush with the rest of the device, and I also value the slightly larger screen, waterproofing, and extra battery life. If you don't care for these features, the base Kindle is an excellent pick, particularly at these October Prime Day prices. It has a six-inch display and offers up to six weeks of battery life on a single charge.

Kindle Paperwhite

Kindle Paperwhite (ad-supported)

$124.99 at Amazon

$159.99 Save $35.00

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$124.99 at Amazon

$159.99 Save $35.00

Kindle Paperwhite (without ads)

$144.99 at Amazon

$179.99 Save $35.00

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$144.99 at Amazon

$179.99 Save $35.00

I think the Kindle Paperwhite is the best ebook reader for most people. It hits the sweet spot between price and performance, thanks to the seven-inch display, IPX8 waterproofing, and up to 12 weeks of battery life. During October Prime Day, the Kindle Paperwhite's price has hit a new low, starting at $125 for the ad-supported version (list price $160). 

If you want the Kindle Paperwhite without ads, you can get it for $145 (list price $180). This is the first time it's gone below $150, which makes this an excellent deal too.

Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition

Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition

$149.99 at Amazon

$199.99 Save $50.00

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$149.99 at Amazon

$199.99 Save $50.00

The Kindle Paperwhite has an upgraded Signature Edition, which adds interesting features such as wireless charging, an auto-adjusting front light, and 32GB of storage, which is double the amount you get on the non-Signature model. None of these features are important to me, but they might catch your eye. The extra storage is handy if you use your Kindle to listen to Audible audiobooks (you'll need to connect a pair of Bluetooth headphones for this). You'll be happy to know that even the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition has hit a record low price during October Prime Day. You can get it for $150, which is a 25% discount from the $200 list price.

Kindle Colorsoft

Kindle Colorsoft

$199.99 at Amazon

$249.99 Save $50.00

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$199.99 at Amazon

$249.99 Save $50.00

For those who want a Kindle with a color display, the Colorsoft is the one to get. During Amazon's October Prime Day sale, the Kindle Colorsoft is going for under $200 (list price $250), which is the lowest price I've seen so far. Don't get too excited just by looking at the price though, because the Colorsoft is a polarizing device. My colleague Michelle Ehrhardt gave the Colorsoft a 3.5/5 in her review, and called it out for making black-and-white content look worse. She also doesn't recommend it for reading comics, which makes it a tough sell overall. Its battery life is rated at eight weeks, which is lower than that of the Paperwhite.

Kindle Scribe

Kindle Scribe

$299.99 at Amazon

$399.99 Save $100.00

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$299.99 at Amazon

$399.99 Save $100.00

The Kindle Scribe is for those who want to be able to take notes, too. Lifehacker's Deputy Editor Joel Cunningham gave the Scribe a 3.5/5 in his review, saying that it's a great ebook reader but a disappointing digital notebook. It does not have waterproofing, which is a disappointing omission considering this product's price. During October Prime Day 2025, the Kindle Scribe is down to $300 (list price $400), which matches its lowest ever price. 

Looking for something else? Retailers like Walmart and Best Buy have Prime Day competition sales that are especially useful if you don’t have Amazon Prime.

• Walmart’s Prime Day competition sale runs from Oct. 6 at 7 p.m. ET through Oct. 12 and includes deals up to 50% off. It’s an especially good option if you have Walmart+.

• Best Buy’s Prime Day competition sale runs from Sept. 27 through Oct. 12, and has some of the best tech sales online. It’s an especially good option if you’re a My Best Buy “Plus” or “Total” member.

• Target’s Prime Day competition sale runs from Oct. 5 through Oct. 11, and it has deals going up to 50% off. You can become a Circle member for free.

I've worked out of my basement apartment as a content creator and videographer for several years now. As a result, I’ve had to find creative and unique ways to maximize space and find effective (yet inexpensive) gear to create my videos at the highest level possible.

Sometimes, that can seem pretty overwhelming, especially if you’re just getting started. But you really only need to focus on three things: audio, video, and lighting. Here's some of how I built my home studio, what I use to make videos like the one you can watch right now in this story, and how you can do the same, even in a small living space.

Start with great audio

When I first started making videos, I really underestimated the value of quality sound. I thought I'd need some crazy-expensive microphone to get professional-sounding audio.

Fortunately, smartphone mics have improved drastically over the years. In a quiet room with limited background noise, your phone is more than capable of giving you decent audio. If you want to make your videos sound more professional, or you plan to record outside often, consider getting an external microphone.

For on-the-go recording, I use the Hollyland Lark M2. Lavalier and lapel mics are an absolute must-have for any content creator, especially if you hope to go out into the world to record. There are tons of versions to choose from, but my go-to has always been the Hollyland line of products. What makes these particularly special is how easily they integrate with both cameras and phones, and their noise-cancelling feature comes in clutch in areas with a lot of background noise.

I’ve used these on racetracks, here at home, and at several car conferences over the years, and have never had a problem with overpowering background noise. They also come in an AirPods-style charging case, which not only fits in your back pocket, but also ensures you never have to deal with a dead mic while you’re out filming.

If you’re looking to set up a more permanent place to record, I’ve always defaulted to the Audio-Technica AT2020. To use a condenser microphone like this, you’ll also need an audio interface with phantom power to connect it to your computer. I use the M-Audio M-Track to accomplish both of these requirements and have had mine for over four years now. While it doesn’t have as many features as some higher-priced options, the M-Audio M-Track is more than enough for what I need, and it’s usually less than $50.

Hollyland Lark M2

$99.99 at Amazon

$109.99 Save $10.00

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$99.99 at Amazon

$109.99 Save $10.00

Audio-Technica AT2020

$119.00 at Amazon

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$119.00 at Amazon

M-Audio M-Track Solo USB Audio Interface

$56.77 at Amazon

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$56.77 at Amazon

Layer in quality video

Good audio is awesome, but it really doesn’t mean much if you don’t have some solid video to go along with it. Just like with audio tech, it’s easy to overcomplicate your setup and add extra work that you really don’t need as a solo creator.

Under most circumstances, the best tool to have on hand is your phone camera. If you have an iPhone or Android from the past 5-7 years, it'll have an HD camera you can use to film high-quality video without breaking the bank.

Let’s use my iPhone 15 as an example. If you go up to the top-right corner of your camera app settings, you’ll usually see this little “HD” and “30”, which determines your resolution and frame rate for the video you’re recording. I film in either 4K 30fps or 4K 60fps so I can maximize every bit of my phone’s capabilities. 

Normally, you won’t need more than HD (1080p) and 30fps to film good video. For more stunning visuals, you can go all the way up to 4K and 60fps, which is comparable to what you’d get from a DSLR or stationary camera. The downside is that the video files will be much larger and will take up more of your phone’s internal storage. 

Needing adequate storage space is why one of your best friends in your content creation journey is a reliable external hard drive for your videos and audio. I highly recommend something like the Samsung T7 or the SanDisk Extreme Pro, both of which give you ample storage to create folders and organize any creative concepts you’re working on.

If you’re doing any streaming or stationary recording, I recommend the Logitech C920x HD. I’ve used this camera for everything from Instagram reels to Zoom calls, and with its included LogiTune software, you can dial in your color and framing settings before you shoot. As an all-around quality camera, it really doesn’t get much better than this, especially for less than $70.

If you want to level up even more and have a bit more budget to work with, take a look at the Osbot Tiny 2 Lite 4K Webcam. This one gives you more functionality, including 4K/60fps capability and gesture control, while also supporting horizontal, portrait, and even mirrored aspect ratios.

Samsung T7 Portable SSD 2TB External Solid State Drive

$139.99 at Amazon

$187.99 Save $48.00

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$139.99 at Amazon

$187.99 Save $48.00

SanDisk 2TB Extreme PRO Portable SSD

$199.00 at Amazon

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$199.00 at Amazon

Logitech C920x HD Pro Webcam

$59.99 at Amazon

$69.99 Save $10.00

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$59.99 at Amazon

$69.99 Save $10.00

OBSBOT Tiny 2 Lite 4K Webcam

$159.99 at Amazon

$179.99 Save $20.00

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$159.99 at Amazon

$179.99 Save $20.00

Add lighting for balance and style

One of the most under-appreciated elements of content creation is good lighting. A good lighting setup can pay massive dividends on your visual quality and adds a whole lot to your video setup.

I’m personally a massive fan of the Govee line of products because of their many options and adjustment settings. I run all my lights off of Govee’s app from my iPad or phone, which allows me to change my lighting setup on the fly, even in the middle of a recording session.

The Govee Floor Lamp is one of the most flexible and dynamic options that you can add to your studio space. With more than 80 customizable presets and adjustable brightness from 2200K to 6500K, this light gives you more than enough options to change the entire vibe of your videos and living space. It also doubles as an effective key light for your main source of on-camera illumination.

This also pairs beautifully with one of my favorite lighting devices of all time, the Govee Glide Wall Lights. These are everywhere in my studio, and for good reason: Not only do they integrate perfectly with other Govee products, but they also make for amazing backlights in a video setup. You can dial them in as much or as little as you want, and Govee’s app gives you more than 64 presets to find your perfect balance.

Another great addition that I highly recommend is a cheap sun lamp to balance out your ambient lighting in low-light areas. Since I’m in a basement, there’s not much natural light to work with. So to combat that downside, a lamp helps replicate the natural ambience of a sunlit room and looks much better on camera. My personal favorite is the LASTAR Sun Lamp, as it gives you dynamic brightness and various color temperature options.

Govee Floor Lamp 2

$129.99 at Amazon

$164.99 Save $35.00

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$129.99 at Amazon

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Govee Glide LED Wall Lights

$54.99 at Amazon

$69.99 Save $15.00

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LASTAR Sun Lamp

$26.99 at Amazon

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Get the gear, then start getting creative

No matter what you decide to use when creating your own home studio, always remember that your studio should be a reflection of the content you want to create. Look at content creators you like and see what they’re using to improve the quality of their videos.

As a motorsport and car nerd, all of my recording zones have elements of racing and car culture to emphasize the specialty that I bring to the table. Whether it’s LEGO, car models, or vintage signs, my goal was to create a space that would reinforce the topics I care about in a subtle yet effective manner. So have fun with it, and use these basics to transform your living, recording, or creating space into something you’re truly proud of.

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The Powerbeats Pro 2 are an impressive pair of headphones, but it takes some setup to use all of their features, especially if you want to try the heart rate tracking. Here’s a full breakdown on how to pair the headphones to both Android and iPhone phones, as well as how to get the best fit with your ears.

Pairing the Powerbeats Pro 2 with an iPhone

Apple has made it easy to pair the Powerbeats Pro 2 with iPhones, at least for sound—the heart rate feature is a bit more complicated, and I’ll talk about that in a minute. But to pair your Powerbeats Pro 2, you just open the case while the phone is nearby. That’s it! 

Follow the prompts you see on your phone’s screen. It may ask you to hold down the button just inside the case lid. The other prompts will ask if you’d like to do a fit test (you can do this later), and if you’d like Siri to announce your calls and notifications.

Pairing the Powerbeats Pro 2 with an Android phone

To use Powerbeats Pro 2 with an Android phone, first install the Beats app, tap Connect, and choose the Powerbeats Pro 2. (My app just called both versions “Powerbeats Pro” but each had a photo of the correct model.) Select the option to connect audio, and follow the prompts. You’ll be asked to open the case, and if pairing doesn’t start automatically, you’ll hold the button just inside the case lid to put the Powerbeats into pairing mode.

Once the Powerbeats Pro 2 are connected, the prompts will ask if you’d like to do a fit test and set up the heart rate features. I also got a little message telling me how to mute audio and end a call. (One press of the main button to mute, a double press to end.)

Getting a good fit with the ear tips and the sound test

To get the best sound quality and the best noise management (like active noise cancelling), you’ll want the earbuds to form a good seal in your ear. This involves two things: choosing the right size of ear tip and adjusting the angle of the earbud to find the best position. 

The Powerbeats Pro 2 come with five tips, from size XS through XL. They are pretty standard sized and shaped silicone tips, but you can always swap them out with aftermarket tips from other brands. For example, one Redditor reported getting a better seal with these AZLA tips. Out of curiosity, I swapped mine with the silicone tips that came with my Loop earplugs, and they fit well, too. 

If you have trouble getting the silicone tip to go onto the earbud, flip the silicone cup inside-out. It becomes a lot easier to handle that way, especially on the smaller sizes. 

Next, do a sound test. You can find this in the Settings app on iPhone, or the Beats app on Android, under Ear Tip Fit Test. You’ll need to be in a quiet environment; The app refused to do the test when I was in a loud gym. You’ll hear a few seconds of music, and then the app will give you feedback on the fit on each ear. 

If you didn’t get a good seal, it’s up to you to experiment and try again. You may need a different size of ear tip, or you may just need to change the angle of the earbuds in your ears and try again. I found I got my best seal with the earbuds angled forward. 

One important caveat here: the fit that is best for sound quality is not necessarily the fit that is best for the heart rate feature! As I wrote in my review, I found that a forward-leaning position got me the best audio quality, but the heart rate sensor couldn’t pick up my heart rate accurately in that position. Beats and Apple don’t provide any information about getting a good fit for heart rate aside from directing you to the ear tip fit test, which isn’t necessarily helpful. 

Pairing the heart rate sensor on iPhone

When it comes to pairing the heart rate sensor, things are ironically a little tricky due to Apple’s efforts to have everything work seamlessly. You can’t pair this sensor like a normal Bluetooth heart rate monitor; instead, you have to use certain specific partner apps that will pick up the heart rate automatically. 

Those apps are, at the time of writing: Open, Nike Run Club, Runna, Ladder, Slopes, Pedometer++, LazyFit, and five other fitness apps with vague names like “Workout for Women.” This list is subject to change, so check the official list here. 

The heart rate sensor is on by default, but you can turn it off. If you can’t get your heart rate to show up in those apps, check Settings to be sure the heart rate feature is on.

Pairing the heart rate sensor on Android

On Android, the heart rate feature works like any other Bluetooth heart rate sensor. Importantly, this is a separate pairing step from pairing the earbuds for sound. Hearing your music through the buds doesn’t mean your heart rate sensor is connected. 

Make sure the heart rate feature is enabled in your Beats settings. Go to My Beats and scroll down on the page to find heart rate. Enable it. 

To put the heart rate sensor into pairing mode, press twice and hold on the side of the earbud. The sensor is now available for apps and devices to pair to. For example, in the Strava app, you can use the Powerbeats as a heart rate sensor in the same way you’d use a chest strap. 

If you connect the heart rate sensor to other equipment, like a treadmill at the gym, you won’t be able to play audio from your phone at the same time. 

Settings you may want to change

With your Powerbeats Pro 2 all connected, you’ll still probably want to tweak a few things. Consider these: 

• Swap between listening modes: Holding the side button toggles between noise cancelling and transparency mode. But there are actually three listening modes available in your settings app. The other one is “off,” with no noise management at all. You can choose which options are available from your side button—all three, or any two of your choice.

• Reprogram the side button: By default, both earbuds use a press-and-hold on the side button for noise management. But if you prefer, you can change one or both to trigger your phone’s voice assistant (Siri on iPhone, or the equivalent on your Android phone). 

• Reprogram call controls: By default, you press the side button once to answer a call, press it during a call to mute or unmute, and press twice to end a call. You can swap those last two if you’d like. 

• Use one earbud at a time: Normally you need to have both earbuds in to use noise cancellation, but there’s a setting to allow this even when you’re only using one earbud at a time. (Heart rate always needs both earbuds, though.)

• Set up personalized spatial audio (iPhone/Apple devices only): The audio from Facetime calls, and from supported shows and videos, can be made to feel like it surrounds you. There’s a special setup process for this; Apple has more information here.

• Have Siri announce your notifications, or not (iPhone/Apple devices only): Just what it sounds like. Siri will interrupt your workout tunes to let you know your husband is texting you about something. I’m not sure if I like this feature. 

• Share pairing across all your devices (iPhone/Apple devices only): After you pair the Powerbeats to your iPhone, they will automatically connect to all your other devices—like, say, your Mac laptop. If you don’t like this, deselect “connect automatically” and choose the other option, which is to only connect to this iPhone when last connected to this iPhone.

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.

Prime Day 2025 ends tonight, and Lifehacker is sharing the best sales based on product reviews, comparisons, and price-tracking tools before it's over. 

• Follow our live blog to stay up to date on the best sales we find.

• Browse our editors’ picks for a curated list of our favorite sales on laptops, fitness tech, appliances, and more. 

• Subscribe to our shopping newsletter, Add to Cart, for the best sales sent to your inbox.

New to Prime Day? We have a primer on everything you need to know. Sales are accurate at the time of publication, but prices and inventory are always subject to change.

Over the last 10 years, Hisense, a brand that doesn't yet have the name recognition of a Sony or a Panasonic, has been attracting a growing community of devotees impressed by its sets, which offer great value for the money. The largest televisions that Hisense makes are all deeply discounted during Prime Day, but the sale ends tonight.

For a long time, I was perfectly content with my 40-inch TV; given my small living room, I couldn’t see the point of scaling up. Then I tested out a 65-inch TV, and I was quickly proven wrong: A bigger TV really is worth it. And Hisense makes some great, and great big, TVs. Here are the models you can pick up at a substantial discount before Prime Day ends tonight.

Hisense U65QF Series 4K Mini-LED QLED Fire TV

The Fire U6 series, which supports the Alexa smart assistant, performs extremely well in overall picture performance and seems to outperform even the U7 in black uniformity. It features full-array local dimming to make darker images more distinguishable. Using a new AI chipset, the 4k upscaler ensures smoother motion.  

• 65” U65QF Series 4K Mini-LED QLED Fire TV, was $999.99, now $599.99

• 75” U65QF Series 4K Mini-LED QLED Fire TV, was $1,299.99, now $799.99

• 85” U65QF Series 4K Mini-LED QLED Fire TV, was $1,999.99, now $1,199.99

• 100” U65QF Series 4K Mini-LED QLED Fire TV, was $3,499.99, now $2,199.99

Hisense 65" 4K Mini LED TV

$388.00 at Walmart

$378.00 Save 0.00

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Hisense U75QF Series 4K Mini-LED QLED Google TV

The U7 improves over the U6 line when it comes to contrast and brightness. It also offers additional HDMI ports and, with a better refresh rate, is superior for gaming compared to the U6 line. 

• 65” U75QF Series 4K Mini-LED QLED Google TV, was $1,499.99, now $799.99

• 75” U75QF Series 4K Mini-LED QLED Google TV, was $1,999.99, now $1,099.99

• 85” U75QF Series 4K Mini-LED QLED Google TV, was $2,499.99, now $1,599.99

• 100” U75QF Series 4K Mini-LED QLED Google TV, was $4,999.99, now $2,599.99

Hisense 65" Class U7 Mini-LED ULED 4K Google TV

$797.99 at Amazon

$949.99 Save $152.00

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$797.99 at Amazon

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Hisense U8QG Series 4K Mini-LED QLED Google TV

The U8 series offers an upgrade to the U7 series above. You'll experience incremental improvements to the picture quality, higher refresh rates for gaming experiences, and better brightness and darkness for HDR content. The U8 series minimizes reflections, too, making for a better viewing experience for daytime viewing.

• 65” U8QG Series 4K Mini-LED QLED Google TV, was $2,199.99, now $999.99

• 75” U8QG Series 4K Mini-LED QLED Google TV, was $2,499.99, now $1,699.99

• 85” U8QG Series 4K Mini-LED QLED Google TV, was $3,499.99, now $2,199.99

• 100” U8QG Series 4K Mini-LED QLED Google TV, was $6,999.99, now $4,499.99

Hisense CanvasTV

CanvasTV are the Hisense version of the Samsung Frame. When you're not watching it, you can use thisr television as a display for photos or pictures. The CanvasTV features a completely flat surface with a low profile frame, and you can switch the frame out (they're magnetic). With a high, variable refresh rate, this model is also ideal for gaming.

• 65” CanvasTV, was $1,299.99, now $899.99

• 85” CanvasTV, was $3,999.99, now $1,999.99

Hisense 65-Inch Class QLED 4K CanvasTV

$897.99 at Amazon

$1,299.99 Save $402.00

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$897.99 at Amazon

$1,299.99 Save $402.00

Looking for something else? Retailers like Walmart, Best Buy, and Home Depot have Prime Day competition sales that are especially useful if you don’t have Amazon Prime.

• Walmart’s Prime Day competition sale begins at midnight on July 8 and will include deals up to 50% off. It’s an especially good option if you have Walmart+. 

• Best Buy’s Prime Day competition sale, “Black Friday in July,” runs through Sunday, July 13 and has some of the best tech sales online. It’s an especially good option if you’re a My Best Buy “Plus” or “Total” member.

Anker has issued two voluntary recalls of its popular power banks, both for reasons related to the lithium ion batteries inside the units. The first recall, earlier this month, was for PowerCore 10000 units sold between 2016 and 2022, over concerns of a potential fire risk. The second recall, issued this week for five additional units, including MagGo and Zolo power banks, relates to possible battery malfunctions that were detected during routine quality assurance testing. If you've got an Anker power bank, you'll definitely want to check to ensure it isn't one of the recalled units.

Which Anker power bank models are involved in the recall?

While the following models are affected, not every unit of these models are part of the recall. The recall of the MagGo and Zolo banks, for instance, only involved one battery supplier. Here's the list of the models potentially affected by the recalls.

• Anker PowerCore 10000 power bank (Model: A1263)

• Anker Power Bank (Model A1257 and Model A1647)

• Anker MagGo Power Bank (Model A1652)

• Anker Zolo Power Bank (Model A1681 and Model A1689)

How to see if your power bank is part of the Anker recall

To see if your specific unit is included in the recall, locate the model number of your Anker powerbank, which is usually located on the bottom of the unit. If your unit is one of the models above, visit the recall page on the Anker website. The page will direct you to the correct recall form, where you'll need to input the serial number on each unit, paying particular attention to characters that look like, like the letter "O" and the number "0" (good luck with that). As soon as you hit submit, you'll find out immediately if your unit is affected.

If your unit is part of the recall

If you find that your unit is affected, you should stop using it. Anker has instructions on how to safely dispose of a power unit—don't throw it out. Due to the lithium ion battery, you'll need to use a Household Hazardous Waste collection drop point. Your city probably has at least one facility that handles this type of waste. Regardless, you should not dispose of the unit until Anker confirms your unit is affected.

What compensation is Anker offering

In the United States, Anker is letting consumers choose whether they prefer a replacement unit or a gift card. Fair warning, the gift card is only usable on the Anker website.

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.

I replace the security cameras around my home with alarming frequency in order to test and write about new models (a fact I don't share with neighbors, because I find their suspicion amusing). As such, I am often asked by friends what brand I recommend, and Reolink is one of the brands that gets my stamp of approval. Right now, several of Reolink's cameras are on sale, making it a great time to snag one if you've been on the lookout.

Increasingly, the ability to skip another monthly fee is a major factor in my security camera recommendations, and that's one of the reasons I like Reolink. Its cameras offer a number of backup hubs, so if you prefer to skip a subscription, you certainly can. Reolink cameras also offer POE (power over Ethernet) options, as well as cameras with static IPs, both of which can significantly increase the security of your cameras. (PoE ensures consist power and internet; static IPs make it easier to secure the connection to your camera, thus making it harder to hack.)

Reolink Argus PT Ultra

$139.99 at Amazon

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$139.99 at Amazon

REOLINK PTZ Security Camera System

$135.99 at Amazon

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REOLINK Video Doorbell WiFi Camera

$88.00 at Amazon

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Reolink Duo 3 WiFi

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I always advise going with a PTZ camera

Point/tilt/zoom cameras (PTZ) allow you to use your phone as a remote control for your camera, so you gain a much larger field of view over fixed focal point cameras. The Argus PT is a fantastic example, with a camera that can rotate 360 degrees, offers 8MP color night vision, and auto tracking to follow your pets or strangers around the yard. Use the coupon on the product page for $28 off the regular price of $139.99.

If you're really suspicious and need to track more than one pet or person at the same time, Reolink has a dual tracking model. The on page coupon will take $28 off the $169.99 price.

Get a video doorbell that works with your smart cameras

There are some brands of video doorbells so good that I've been known to keep a whole separate app and subscription just for the doorbell. This year, I decided that was absurd and I've been incredibly happy since—now I use one system for the whole home, including the doorbell. This allows the system to track people or pets from one camera to another, and I can easily access all the feeds in one place. If you're in the Reolink ecosystem, this 2K wired doorbell comes with its own smart chime. An on-page coupon will knock 20% off its regular price of $109.99.

When you need a lot of storage and incredible detail

The Reolink Duo, another camera included in the sale, isn't PTZ, but it's still a good option. The camera's focus remains fixed, so you never miss a second of what happens in the field of vision, which is still pretty wide, at 180 degrees. This camera also doubles the detail of the Argus models, with a full 16mp UHD. Another notable perk: up to 512GB of storage on board, so you don't have to delete clips every few days. Normally $189.99, a $45 off coupon can be stacked with an additional 5% off coupon, both on the page.

Nothing's phones have always looked a little different than the rest, going all the way back to the 2022 original, with its futuristic stylings and light-up glyphs on the back casing. With its new Phone 3 and Headphone 1 products, Nothing is pushing even further into alternative aesthetics—at a time when most smartphones look roughly similar, you certainly won't mistake them for any other company's devices.

The Nothing Phone 3 has a "puzzling" design

First up the Nothing Phone 3, following on from the mid-range Phone 3a and Phone 3a Pro launched earlier this year. The rear casing looks like a sliding block puzzle, with hints of the now defunct Project Ara modular phone project from Google. The three rear 50MP cameras and a flash are on four of these blocks, with what Nothing is calling a Glyph Matrix up in the top right corner.

That little monochrome display can show a number of different bits of information, including notifications, and even be used to play simple games (including Rock, Paper, Scissors). It can also work as a simple viewfinder, to make sure you've got everyone in the frame before you hit the shutter button.

The Nothing Phone 3 features a Glyph Matrix display on the rear. Credit: Nothing

You can pick up the phone in white or black. One the front, you've got a 6.67-inch OLED screen running at a 120 Hz refresh rate and with a 2800 x 1260 pixel resolution. The handset offers IP68 water and dust protection, and the cameras are rounded off by a 50MP selfie camera on the front.

And what about the insides? The Phone 3 is running a Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 processor from Qualcomm, matched with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, or 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. There's a 5,150mAh capacity battery here (up from 4,700mAh on the Nothing Phone 2), with 65W wired and 15W wireless charging rates.

Software duties are handled by Nothing OS 3.5, which is based on Android 15. We are expecting a pretty major update with Nothing OS 4.0 (based on Android 16) in the near future, however: The upgrade is due before the end of September, and Nothing CEO Carl Pei has dropped several hints that big AI features are in the offing.

As we speculated last month, the price might be a tough sell: The Nothing Phone (3) starts at $799 for the 12GB/256GB model, so you're paying as much as you would for a Google Pixel 9, an iPhone 16, or a Samsung Galaxy S25, which is some tough competition. Opt for the 16GB/512GB version, and that price rises to $899.

That's flagship-level pricing for not-quite-flagship-level specs: The Phone 3 doesn't use the latest Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, like the Galaxy S25 does, for example. However, the unusual looks and quirky features of the handset may make it appealing enough to a broad set of people—and it certainly has enough power for most.

The handset will be available to buy on July 15.

The Headphone 1 cans have a chunky appeal

The Nothing Headphone 1 in white. Credit: Nothing

Nothing has also launched its first over-ear headphones, the Nothing Headphone 1 (using the singular form in the name). Again, you can see a reluctance to follow conventional thinking when it comes to the design: Passers-by will definitely be able to tell you're not wearing a standard set of cans on your head when you've got these on.

Developed in partnership with audio experts KEF, the headphones boast 40 mm drivers, and bring with them active noise cancellation (ANC), a transparency mode, and spatial audio with head tracking (so sounds from supported sources will shift as you move your head). Nothing says you'll get up to 35 hours of battery life with ANC on.

The Nothing Headphone 1 also sports an array of physical buttons, and 3.5 mm, USB-C, and wireless Bluetooth connectivity. As with the Nothing Phone 3, your color choices are black or white, and they'll set you back $299. They're also debuting on July 15.

I've been using Google Nest speakers since they were still called Google Home, back when the company was handing them out like candy. Over the years, I've mostly stuck to the basics of using the smart speakers to set timers, control lights, and get quick answers to random questions, but even carrying out those simple tasks is not without frustration. Part of the challenge of these devices is how particular they are about how you speak to them, but I've learned a few tricks that make it easier.

Smart speakers in general are in a bit of an awkward phase right now. Most are still stuck with software that can only understand a handful of very specific phrases, and can get stuck if you don't phrase a question or request just so. Meanwhile, LLMs like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude are somehow able to understand complex instructions, even if they sometimes struggle to follow those instructions.

It may be a while before smart speakers are dragged into our LLM-enabled future, but there are a few things you can do to make them work better in the meantime. In this article I'm focusing on Google Home and its Nest speakers because that's the ecosystem I personally use, but many of these tips will apply to other smart speaker systems as well. For example, while Google has Voice Match, Amazon's Echo has Voice ID; both of these tools identify who's speaking to them. Even if you're in a different smart speaker ecosystem, it's worth poking around to see what your options are.

Try out the Gemini preview (if you can)

Arguably, the most function for an LLM like Gemini is interpreting voice commands, but for now Gemini is still locked behind a Public Preview. Though "public" might be a bit of a misnomer. While you can opt-in to trying out Gemini on your smart speakers, there are several conditions. You must:

• Be a Nest Aware subscriber. Ostensibly, the Nest Aware subscription is mainly for video features on your Nest cameras, but Google has a tendency to lump other smart home features into it. The Gemini preview is one of those. A subscription costs $8/month or $80/year, but we probably wouldn't recommend getting it just to try out Gemini early.

• Enroll in the Google Home app public preview. There's a separate public preview for new Google Home features that you'll have to opt-in to before you can even get to the Gemini preview. You can find full instructions here based on your devices.

• Opt-in to experimental AI features. Once you're in the Google Home public preview, you'll get a message in the Google Home app inviting you to enable experimental AI features. Make sure this is toggled on as well, or you'll miss the Gemini option.

• Then…wait. Even after all of this, Google doesn't guarantee you'll immediately gain access to the Gemini preview, which is annoying. But if you want a shot at trying it out, you'll need to jump through the above hoops.

For now, this isn't going to be practical for most people, but if you're already a Nest Aware subscriber, it might be worth giving it a try. Google Nest devices currently default to the Google Assistant, which does little more than scan your requests for simple keywords. If you want to talk to your speaker in real, human sentences, it's inevitably going to take Gemini. It's just a question of when you can get it.

Create your own commands with Automations

Until Gemini is broadly available as a voice assistant, we're stuck trying to fit our requests into the narrow box of smart speakers. Fortunately, Google Home has a really handy tool to make them less cumbersome: Automations. In a dedicated tab in the Google Home app, you can create automations (called Routines) that trigger multiple, complex actions from simple phrases.

One of my favorites, I've created a routine that activates when I say, "Hey, Google: movie sign!" This little script will turn off the overhead lights in my living room, pause any smart speakers that happen to be playing music, and turn on the TV backlight. Normally, all of these would have to be individual commands, and while Google Assistant can sometimes handle multiple instructions at once, it can often fail. This way rarely does.

Routines have some built-in functions such as adjusting your smart home devices, playing certain media, sending texts, or even getting the weather. If there's not already a preset action in the Routines menu, you can also add custom instructions. These will run as though you told Google Assistant to do them yourself. It's handy if you need to run a command with a particular phrasing, but one that Google often misunderstands when spoken aloud.

Enable Voice and Face Match to get better results

Google advertises Voice Match as a way to get personalized results based on who's asking a question. For example, if you say "What's on my calendar?" you can get a rundown from your personal Google account, but someone else in your household will get theirs (and guests can't access anyone's calendar). While that's well and good, personally I find this feature useful for a much different reason: it can help Google know what each person in your house sounds like. 

Any household with both masculine and feminine voices is familiar with this particular failure. Someone with a feminine voice says "turn on kitchen…turn on kitchen…turn on kitchen!" Then the masculine voice, from across the room, bellows, "Turn on kitchen." And that one works.

There are complicated reasons for this—which can range from simple coincidence to how microphones pick up higher and lower frequencies—but Voice Match can sometimes (sort of) help with this. While it doesn't magically make the device's microphone better, or make it easier to distinguish a voice from background noise, it can help Google decide better how to handle commands.

For example, two people who each have Voice Match set up on the same device can set different default music services. Similarly, recommendations based on previous activity will be tailored to that person's profile, rather than all activity going through one account.

Now, this might be anecdotal, but I've found that this can even help with my partners' voices not being recognized at all, like in the example above. Your mileage may vary, but in my experience, just having a voice model that Google recognizes as a specific user can result in the speaker distinguishing them from background noise.

Choose your other smart device names carefully

Most smart home gizmos will run you through the process of setting up and naming your devices, often by labeling them based on what room they're in. In isolation, that's not really a problem. It's once you start combining multiple products that things get messy.

It took me a while to figure this out when my Nest speaker started telling me that it turned "three devices off" when I asked it to "turn off kitchen." See, we only have two Philips Hue lights in there. After a couple weeks of confusion, I realized that my partner had recently set up a Pura smart fragrance diffuser. This was also put in the "kitchen" category, which meant I was turning off the air freshener every time I asked Google to dim the lights.

This can be tricky because the Google Home app organizes devices by room, which means you can expect to be turning off all devices in that room, but if a device has the same name as just one room, Assistant can get confused. An easy way to avoid this is to use clear, unique names for each device, be careful about how you organize devices into rooms (both in their respective apps and Google Home itself), and choose names that work for how you're likely to identify a device out loud. This is also where custom commands can come in handy, if your naming schemes get too difficult.

Turn on the start sound

This one is so simple it feels like it should be the default. Normally, when you say "Hey Google" to your smart speaker or display, it will light up and start listening, but if you're not looking directly at it, you might not notice. However, you can set it to make a small ding so you know it's listening.

To enable this, open up the Google Home app and find the device you want to make noise. Tap it and select Settings. Under Accessibility, enable the "Play start sound" toggle. Now, as soon as you say "Hey Google," you'll hear a ding sound, so you know it's listening.

It's a little thing, but that feedback can be super helpful. It instantly lets you know if your smart speaker just didn't hear you at all, so you don't waste time with your full command before you realize what's happening. It can also help diagnose when something else is the problem. If you hear the ding and then say your command, you know Google picked it up, but it might be struggling to access the internet, or misheard the command.

When USB-C first arrived, it seemed like we had finally achieved the digital dream of one, universal plug that could do everything. The reality, however, is much more annoying. While everything from your laptop to tablet to phone can connect to the same cable or charger, they can get very different results, depending on which charger or cable you're using. Worse yet, it's not always clear why.

This issue stems from two major problems. The first are cables that conform to different USB specifications, without necessarily being labeled as such. And the second is charging blocks that provide different levels of power, more often with at least some kind of label, but less clarity on what those labels mean.

There's a decent chance that you've encountered this problem without even realizing it. A friend of mine, for example, had an external portable monitor that connected to her laptop solely via a USB-C cable—a specific cable she called the "magic cable." She called it this because, for reasons she couldn't figure out, any other cable would simply not work. Those other cables were useful for charging a phone or connecting a peripheral, but not for this portable monitor. 

If you've found yourself in a similar situation, here's what makes those cables so magic.

Why not all USB-C cables are created equal

To demonstrate the main issue here, what do you imagine when I say "USB-C"? If you pictured a squat little oval connector, you're right! If you pictured that oval connected to a cable, however, well that's a bit of a different story. Technically—and for this explanation, we're gonna have to get pretty technical—"USB-C" refers only to the port and connector type itself.

Beyond that, USB specifications are used to denote minimum data transfer speeds and power supplied. This can get complicated, but the important part for charging purposes is a cable or charger's Power Delivery rating. 

Power Delivery (often written as USB-PD) is a subset of USB specifications that allows a cable to provide enough power to charge your devices. "Enough" is a pretty relative term, though. Every USB port provides a little bit of power—that's why your wired mouse or keyboard turn on when you plug them in, after all—but when it comes to charging devices like your smartphone or tablet, the electricity demands get higher.

Why using the right charger matters

Power Delivery was a feature added to the USB specifications so that manufacturers can't denote just how much power a particular charger can supply. This is usually measured in watts (or W). For example, a laptop might come with a 100W power supply, while a smartphone might only require a 20W charger for fast charging.

That also brings us to another complicating factor: fast charging. Technically, if you plug a lower-wattage charger into a higher-power device, it can still charge off of it; it just might take a long time. A 5W charger might power up your phone overnight, while a 20W charger will fill its battery over an hour or two.

For devices like laptops or tablets, the amount of power you consume just by using your device can actually exceed how much power a slow-charging cable can provide. This is why my friend's portable monitor needed a specific cable. Powering on a bright screen takes quite a bit of power, and the non-magic cables were likely only designed for things like plugging in a mouse or charging headphones. If the device you've plugged in demands more power than the cable or charging block can provide, it will either continue to drain the battery (though perhaps a bit slower), or shut off entirely.

If you're plugging a cable into a standalone charging block, that's another important piece of the puzzle. Charging blocks that connect to a wall outlet don't always provide the maximum amount of power to the cables plugged into them. Some blocks that have multiple outlets might even provide different levels of power to different plugs.

It's important to make sure that whatever you're using to charge your devices, you make sure that every step in the chain is up to the task. The power outlet in your home provides enough power (we'd hope), but beyond that, the charging block, the cable, and even the device itself all need to support the amount of power delivery you need.

So, how do you find the right charging cable?

The most annoying part about all of this is that between the standards agency that manages USB specifications, and manufacturers trying to distinguish their own products, labeling USB cables has become a nightmare. To put it in perspective, cables that are capable of transferring up to 5Gbps have, over the last decade or so, been referred to as USB 3.0, USB 3.1 Gen 1, and USB 3.2 Gen 1. These labels all, somehow, refer to basically the same thing.

So, forget all of that. If all you're concerned with is how fast you charge your gadgets, there are two main things you should look for:

• What charger came with the device? This is the easiest one. If a charger or cable came with your device, that's the one that will probably charge it the fastest. If you use a slower cable, the device will slow down to match it, and if you use a faster one, the device won't charge faster than it's programmed to do.

• What is the wattage of the charger? If you're buying third-party, many manufacturers will list the maximum wattage of their products. This is usually a bit more common for charging blocks than cables themselves, but in general, higher is better. Your phone absolutely does not need a 100W charger, but your laptop might. And, as mentioned before, your devices will default to the slowest element in the chain.

In some cases, you can find a label on a charger that lists how much power it supplies, like "100W," though if it's not printed directly on a device, you can look up its model online. Another handy trick, if a cable doesn't have a label but you know what device it came with, is to look up the product itself. If, say, your smartphone says it requires a 20W charger for fast charging, then it's safe to assume that any cables it came with support at least that much.

What happens if you use the "wrong" charger?

The good news is, in the vast majority of cases, you won't damage your devices if you use the wrong charger on them. A 100W charger can still fast charge your phone even if it doesn't use its full capacity. Even a too-slow charger will provide power; it just might take a while. In fact, if you had a smartphone before companies started advertising "fast charging," that's basically what was happening.

The only major way things can go wrong is if you try to use your device to do something that takes more power than the charger can provide. Gaming laptops are particularly susceptible to this. Even high-powered 100W USB-C chargers can't always provide enough energy to offset the demand from AAA games that run your GPU hot. Incidentally, this is why gaming laptops are one of the few devices that still come with a giant honking charging brick.

Even in that case, you're not likely to damage your device, but it will rely on whatever battery power it has to keep going. It will drain more slowly, since it's trying to draw power from both the battery and the wall at once, but if you're doing anything too demanding, it will eventually die.

When it comes to peripherals—like my friend's portable monitor—that don't have their own batteries, however, they simply won't turn on. If you're plugging in a device that needs power via USB, but it won't turn on, there's a good chance you're either using a cable that's not rated to transfer enough power, or the device you're plugging it into isn't able to give it enough.

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Switch 2 preorders went live starting April 24, following a brief delay while Nintendo evaluated the ongoing tariff situation. Since then, you've had the potential to preorder the upcoming console from a number of stores, but not necessarily the opportunity. It's a rough market out there. (Expect a lot of "out of stock" signs.)

Still, if you're interested in picking up the latest Nintendo handheld-console hybrid, you can keep an eye on a number of stores to increase your chances. Here are the major retailers offering Switch 2 preorders, and what they're offering:

Walmart

Like most retailers, Walmart's Switch 2 preorders have been live since April 24 at 12 a.m. ET. The store will happy sell you any number of Switch 2 games and accessories, but if you're just looking for the console or the Mario Kart World bundle, you can simplify your preorder that way.

The company was advertising free delivery by 9 a.m. on June 5 if you preorder right away—the only store on this list guaranteeing such a time frame—but as of today, the site says "Coming soon! Release date: 06/05/2025."

Nintendo Switch™ 2 System

$449.00 at Walmart

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$449.00 at Walmart

Target

Target also opened up preorders at midnight on the 24th. It won't guarantee a time frame, but as with Walmart, you can preorder the standalone console, the Mario Kart World bundle, or Switch 2 games and accessories, like Donkey Kong Bananza or the Switch 2 Pro controller. You'll have plenty of luck ordering the games and accessories—not so much the consoles.

GameStop

GameStop is excited about the fact that it is holding midnight releases for Switch 2 in June. However, it didn't do the same for Switch 2 preorders. In fact, GameStop offered in-person preorders when the brick and mortar stores opened at 11 a.m.—11 hours after other retailers open their online preorders.

Like other stores, GameStop offers the console by itself, or the bundle with Mario Kart World—though both currently say "Coming Soon."

Best Buy

Best Buy also launched preorders at midnight on April 24. There isn't too much to say here, as it's the same deal as other stores: You can pick up the console, the bundle, or any number of accessories and games—though the consoles also say "Coming Soon."

Nintendo

You can, in fact, preorder a Switch 2 from Nintendo directly—but it's a bit weird. First of all, you aren't really "preordering" a console through Nintendo so much as registering your interest to buy one. From there, Nintendo will contact you with an "invitation" to buy the console if you are selected.

In order to be eligible for selection, however, you need to meet some odd criteria. In an effort to minimize scalpers, Nintendo is requiring preorder customers to connect their Nintendo accounts to the registration. Each account needs to have at least 50 hours of play time associated with it, as of April 2. That means you cannot create multiple accounts to try to game the system, nor can you apply if you just started your Nintendo journey after the second of the month.

If you meet these specifications, go for it. It won't be necessary if you secure a preorder through any of the other retailers, but it could be another good backup option—if you qualify, anyway.

Increasing your odds of preordering a Switch 2

The Switch 2 launches on June 5, which doesn't give you a ton of time to secure a unit. Still, hope isn't lost. There are still things you can do today to increase your odds of preordering a Switch 2. Check out my guide here to learn more.