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Amazon’s Prime Day sales tend to be a decent source of discounts for gaming gear, and its latest “Prime Big Deal Days” event is no exception. The two-day event includes a $50 discount on the PlayStation 5, for one, while other games, headsets, mice and controllers we like are down to all-time or near-low prices as well. If you’re looking to upgrade your setup and can’t wait until Black Friday, we’ve rounded up the best Prime Day deals on gaming devices below. We’ll update this post as we find more; just remember that you need to be a Prime member to access some of the offers.

Best Prime Day gaming deals

Photo by Jeff Dunn / Engadget

• PlayStation 5 (slim) for $449 ($51 off): While this isn’t the best PS5 deal we’ve ever seen, steeper discounts for Sony’s console have been infrequent, so this isn’t the worst time to hop aboard. If nothing else, it’s a better value for most than the PS5 Pro.

• PlayStation 5 Digital Edition (slim) for $400 ($50 off): If you’re 100 percent sure you’ll only buy games digitally, the version of the PS5 without a disc drive is also on sale for $50 less. Annoyingly, this was the standard going rate for the original PS5 Digital Edition, but Sony hiked the console’s MSRP by $50 when it introduced these “slim” models last year.

• Astro A40 TR gaming headset for $90 ($40 off): It’s several years old, but the open-back Astro A40 TR remains a top wired gaming headset thanks to its spacious sound and comfy design. The built-in microphone is pretty mediocre, however. This deal checks in $10 below the usual discount price we’ve seen over the course of this year.

• Corsair Virtuoso Pro gaming headset for $140 ($60 off): The Virtuoso Pro is another wired open-back pair we recommend in our gaming headset guide. It’s not quite as good of a value as the Astro A40 TR, but it has a clearer mic, and we found its sound profile to work better with some (but not all) games. This deal matches the lowest price we’ve tracked.

• Corsair Scimitar Elite Wireless MMO gaming mouse for $90 ($40 off): The Scimitar Elite is the wireless version of the top MMO pick in our guide to the best gaming mice. It offers 12 customizable side buttons that make it easier to pull of complex commands in MOBAs or MMOs like Final Fantasy XIV. This is the second-largest discount we’ve seen.

• WD Black C50 Xbox Expansion Card (1TB) for $124 ($34 off): It’s a pain in the neck, but the only way to fully expand the storage of an Xbox Series X/S is to use a proprietary expansion card such as the C50. This deal isn’t an all-time low, but it’s $10 to $20 cheaper than the typical street prices we’ve seen over the last several months. Seagate’s Xbox cards are technically on sale as well, but those “discounts” aren’t anything significant.

• Alienware M18 R2 gaming laptop for $2,300 ($500 off): The M18 R2 is the latest version of the top 18-inch pick in our guide to the best gaming laptops. It’s an absolute hoss of a notebook, but it’s built well, and this model with an RTX 4080 GPU, 32GB of RAM and a Core i9-14900HX chip is powerful enough to play modern games in 1080p or 1440p at high-ish settings. While not cheap, this matches the config’s second-best price to date.

WD

• Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown for $20 ($30 off): Its story isn’t much, and it doesn’t veer too far outside the usual Metroidvania lines, but The Lost Crown should be a safe bet for most people looking for a tight-playing action-platformer. This discount marks a new low for the PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch versions of the game.

• Assassin’s Creed Mirage for $23 ($27 off): Mirage is a something of a throwback to older Assassin’s Creed games, one that’s smaller in scope than the more recent open-world entries. We called it a “warm, bloody hug from an old friend” in our review — in video game land, that’s a good thing. These days we usually see the game retail around $30.

• Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1 for $32 ($8 off): This collection includes (lightly) remastered versions of the first three Metal Gear Solid games, which remain more subversive and self-assured than most games that have hit in the decades since. A few of the series’ classic 8-bit entries are here, too, and Konami has done well to rectify most of the set’s technical issues since launch. We’ve seen this price before, but it ties an all-time low.

• Madden NFL 25 for $43 ($27 off): Madden is in pretty dire need of a creative reset, but at the end of the day, it’s Madden, and it works fine enough if you just want to scratch the pro football game itch. This is the second-best price we’ve seen for the latest entry.

• EA Sports College Football 25 for $43 ($27 off): If you’re more of a college sports fan, EA brought back the series formerly known as NCAA Football back from an 11-year hiatus this past summer, and it generally received higher marks than its pro counterpart. This discount is the largest we’ve seen since launch.

• WWE 2K24 for $30 ($30 off): If you prefer powerbombs and Hell in a Cell matches to touchdowns and bowl games, the latest WWE 2K game is also down to the best price we’ve seen (for a console copy, that is). It’s a 2K game, so there’ll be some bugs, but it received solid reviews at launch — something we cannot say for Cody Rhodes’ neck tattoo. Keep in mind that this game is available for free with a PlayStation Plus subscription during October, so there’s no need to buy if you plan on keeping that service for a while.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice, and stay tuned to Engadget.com for all of the best tech deals coming out of October Prime Day 2024.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/prime-day-gaming-deals-for-2024-save-on-the-ps5-headsets-mice-and-more-075455256.html?src=rss

The latest Amazon Prime Day sale has begun, and it’s looking like another decent chance to save on recommended storage gear. If you’re looking to add more space ahead of Black Friday, we’ve rounded up the best discounts we could find on internal and external SSDs, microSD cards, thumb drives and other storage equipment during Amazon’s October Prime Day event. We’ll update this post as we find more offers of note. Just remember that the Prime Big Deal Days sale, as it’s officially called, runs through October 9, and you’ll need to be a Prime subscriber to see some of the offers.

Best Prime Day SSD deals

Photo by Jeff Dunn / Engadget

• WD Black SN850X (2TB) for $140 ($50 off): If you want a similar performing drive but need more capacity, the 2TB SN850X should fit the bill. This deal isn’t an all-time low, but it’s about $10 to $15 below the 2TB model’s usual going rate over the past several months.

• Samsung 990 Pro w/ heatsink (4TB) for $280 ($200 off): The Samsung 990 Pro is widely rated as one of the fastest PCIe 4.0 drives on the market. This variant comes with a heatsink, so it’s PS5-ready from the jump, though it’s probably overkill for more casual tasks, and it’s always possible to save cash by adding your own heatsink to a cheaper SSD. That said, if you don’t want to bother with that and you need a ton of space, this is an all-time low.

• Crucial T705 (2TB) for $240 ($160 off): Most people don’t need to pay extra for an ultrafast PCIe 5.0 drive like the T705, but if you have heavy-duty performance needs and you own a compatible motherboard, this is about $45 off the 2TB model’s average going rate.

• Kingston XS1000 portable SSD (2TB) for $102 ($38 off): The diminutive Kingston XS1000 is the runner up pick in our guide to the best portable SSDs, and this deal takes about $20 off the drive’s average street price as of late.

• SK Hynix Beetle X31 portable SSD (1TB) for $65 ($70 off): The similarly pocketable Beetle X31 should do the job if you only need 1TB of space. This deal comes within a couple bucks of the lowest price we’ve seen and takes about $25 off the drive’s usual street price.

• Crucial X10 Pro portable SSD (2TB) for $147 ($43 off): You need a device that supports USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 to take full advantage of it, but the X10 Pro is essentially a faster version of the top pick in our portable SSD buying guide. Again, this discount isn’t an all-time low, but the 2TB model has typically retailed around $190 in recent months.

• Lexar SL500 portable SSD (1TB) for $85 ($45 off): This is another USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 model, so most people can safely skip it for a cheaper USB 3.2 Gen 2 SSD or, if you need more performance, a faster USB4 drive. If the SL500 fits into your setup, though, this discount is about $5 to $10 less than the 1TB model’s usual street price.

• Samsung Bar Plus USB flash drive (128GB) for $13 ($8 off): The Bar Plus is a basic but dependable thumb drive if all you need is a simple stick to hold and transfer files. It’s typically sold between $15 and $20 over the past year.

Best Prime Day microSD card and other storage deals

Photo by Jeff Dunn / Engadget

• SanDisk microSDXC Card for Nintendo Switch (128GB, 2-pack) for $28 ($12 off): SanDisk’s Switch-branded microSD card isn’t the fastest we’ve used, but it’s perfectly suitable for most use cases, and this is a solid value for a two-pack.

• Lexar Professional Silver Plus microSD card (256GB, 2-pack) for $39 ($7.49 off): The Silver Plus is among the faster UHS-I microSD cards on the market (so long as you use an appropriate USB adapter). This discount matches the all-time low for a pair of 256GB cards.

• Lexar Professional 1066x microSD card (1TB) for $75 ($70 off): The Professional 1066x is another serviceable (if unspectacular) card we’ve tested for our guide. This deal takes about $15 off the average street price we’ve seen recently for the 1TB model.

• SanDisk Ultra microSD card (1.5TB) for $90 ($60 off): If you don’t care about performance so much and just want a big chunk of space for as little cash as possible, this deal should work. You’ll have to deal with slower transfer speeds, but the discount takes roughly $20 off this 1.5TB card’s typical going rate in recent months.

• WD Black C50 Xbox Expansion Card (1TB) for $124 ($34 off): It’s a pain in the neck, but the only way to fully expand the storage of an Xbox Series X/S is to use a proprietary expansion card such as the C50. This deal isn’t an all-time low, but it’s $10 to $20 cheaper than the typical street prices we’ve seen over the last several months. Seagate’s Xbox cards are technically on sale as well, but those “discounts” aren’t anything significant.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice, and stay tuned to Engadget.com for all of the best tech deals coming out of October Prime Day 2024.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-best-prime-day-ssd-deals-we-could-find-during-amazons-october-sale-074908242.html?src=rss

Amazon’s October Prime Day sale is here, and it includes a handful of good price drops on well-regarded TVs. Not all of them are exclusive to the two-day event, and it’s entirely possible that things drop lower as we get closer to Black Friday. For now, though, we’re seeing all-time low (or at least near-low) prices on recommended sets from LG, Samsung, Sony, Hisense and more. Below we’ve rounded up the best October Prime Day TV deals we can find. We’ll update this post as we find more; just not that you need to be a Prime subscriber to access some of the discounts.

Best Prime Day TV deals

Amy Skorheim

• LG C4 (55”) OLED TV for $1,297 ($703 off): LG’s midrange OLED isn’t quite as bright or color-rich as some other high-end alternatives, but it still offers a superb image with deep black tones, high contrast, clear motion and wide viewing angles. There’s Dolby Vision and 4K/144Hz support as well. This drop has been available for a few weeks, but it ties the lowest price we’ve found. The 65-inch set is available for $400 more, but that’s not much of a deal based on recent street prices.

• LG B4 (55”) OLED TV for $997 ($300 off): The B4 is the entry-level model in LG’s 2024 OLED lineup. It gets you most of the same features as the C4, but it’s a bit less bright across the board, so it’ll work best away from glare. If you just want to save an extra $100 or so, this deal again matches the best price we’ve seen for the 55-inch model.

• Samsung The Frame TV (55”) + bezel for $1,198 ($402 off): Samsung’s The Frame series has always been for people who care about their TV’s aesthetic more than its picture quality, as it’s designed to resemble a framed piece of wall art. It’s still pricey for a TV with no local dimming or Dolby Vision HDR, but this deal nevertheless ties the best price we’ve seen for the bundle that includes colored bezel covers. Other sizes are also on sale.

• Hisense U7N (65”) QLED TV for $748 ($352 off): The Hisense U7N looks to be one of the better values among this year’s crop of TVs. According to various reviews around the web, it pumps out impressive brightness and contrast for the money, plus it can play in 4K at a 144Hz refresh rate. Its image can wash out when viewed from the side, though, and for gamers, it’s limited to two HDMI 2.1 ports. We saw this deal a couple of times over the summer, but it’s still the lowest price to date for the 65-inch variant.

• Sony Bravia 7 (75”) QLED TV for $1,998 ($501 off): The Bravia 7 is a relatively premium non-OLED TV with a mini LED backlight to improve contrast and quantum dots to boost colors. If other Sony TVs are any indication, it should deliver solid color accuracy out of the box and good image processing for lower-resolution content. It only has two HDMI 2.1 ports, its viewing angles are narrow, and it can’t provide the deep black tones of a good OLED set, but it does get brighter. This deal marks a new low for the 75-inch set.

• TCL QM8 (65”) QLED TV for $998 ($502 off): The latest TCL QM8 appears to be a decent alternative to the Hisense U8N — a step-up model from the U7N that’s available for the same price but isn’t significantly discounted as of this writing — if you just want a TV that’s extremely bright, though it has slightly worse contrast according to reviews. This is another discount that ties the lowest price we’ve tracked.

• TCL QM7 (55”) QLED TV for $498 ($301 off): The QM7, meanwhile, is more of a competitor to the Hisense U7N. It’s still worth looking to that set’s 55-inch model first, as it should perform better in well-lit rooms. But if the U7N is significantly more expensive, this matches the lowest price we could find for TCL’s model.

• TCL S5 (55”) LED TV for $265 ($65 off): The S5 is an even more rudimentary set with a 60Hz refresh rate, no local dimming and no HDMI 2.1 ports, but it should be OK if all you need is a usable second (or third) set for the basement or back bedroom. This deal on the 55-inch version is an all-time low and beats the set’s usual street price by $15 or so. It’s another one that ships with the Fire TV interface as standard.

• Roku Select Series (55”) LED TV for $260 ($70 off): The Roku Select Series has a similarly budget-level image as the TCL S5, but it might be worth a look if you’d prefer your dirt-cheap TV to run Roku’s OS instead. This is another low, and other sizes are also on sale.

Best Prime Day streaming device deals

Photo by Jeff Dunn / Engadget

• Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max for $35 ($25 off): All Fire TV devices tend to promote Prime Video and other Amazon services above all else, but if you can live with that, the 4K Max runs fast, works with the major HDR formats and supports all the requisite apps. It also works surprisingly well as a retro gaming device. This deal matches an all-time low.

• Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K for $25 ($25 off): If you really want to save $10, the standard Fire TV Stick 4K offers the same core experience as the Max, just with a slightly slower processor, half the internal storage (8GB) and Wi-Fi 6 instead of 6E. This is another joint-low.

• Roku Ultra (2024) for $79 ($20 off): Roku’s streamers have a more neutral interface than rivals like the Fire TV Stick; the company’s newest set-top box includes a faster processor, a backlit voice remote and Wi-Fi 6 support on top. This discount represents an all-time low.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice, and stay tuned to Engadget.com for all of the best tech deals coming out of October Prime Day 2024.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-best-prime-day-tv-deals-from-lg-samsung-sony-and-more-074335024.html?src=rss

When it comes to speakers, you often get what you pay for — which makes Amazon’s second Prime Day of the year a very good time to pick up highly rated (and otherwise pricey) Bluetooth or smart speakers while they’re cheaper than usual. Of course, there are thousands of speakers in Amazon’s inventory, and not all of them are winners. Here, we’ve rounded up all the Prime Day speaker deals on the best speakers we’ve tested, reviewed and currently recommend.

Best October Prime Day Bluetooth speaker deals

Photo by Jon Turi / Engadget

There’s a portable speaker for just about every situation in our guide to Bluetooth speakers. Whether you just want some tunes as you horbgorble around at home or need to entertain some coworkers at a music dance experience, there’s something for you here — and best of all, these are on sale.

• Tribit StormBox Micro 2 for $48 ($32 off): This is the smallest music box on our list, and we like it because it packs serious sound for its size. The audio isn’t the highest fidelity, but the rubbery strap is perfect for strapping onto a pack, bike handlebar or elsewhere.

• JBL Flip 6 for $80 ($50 off): After reading our guide, this is the speaker I bought, and I can confirm this crowler-sized device has great sound quality, is durable as heck and I love that it sounds great on its side or stood on end.

• Marshall Emberton II for $100 ($70 off): This clutchable model has two 10-watt drivers and passive radiators for 360-degree sound. While it’s not super loud, we found the output to be nicely balanced. You’ll get up to 30 hours of play on a charge and it has a IP67 water- and dust-resistance rating.

• Marshall Middleton for $250 ($50 off): This is the flagship in Marshall’s waterproof/portable line. We like the top-notch sound quality and impressive output from the dual woofers, tweeters for the front and back, and passive radiators along each side.

• Ultimate Ears Hyperboom for $320 ($130 off): At 13 pounds, this UE speaker pushes the boundaries of portable, verging into shelf speaker territory. It made the cut in our guide thanks to its good looks, loud output and ample port options. It’ll play for 24 hours on a charge, too.

Best October Prime Day smart speaker deals

Photo by Amy Skorheim / Engadget

I never thought I’d own a smart speaker, but now I ask Alexa for everything — turn on the smart lights, set a noodle timer, remind me about Saturday’s group FaceTime and, most importantly, tell me the weather today. It’s always a good idea to get these devices on sale, so take advantage of these Prime Day prices while you can.

• Amazon Echo Dot (5th Gen) for $23 ($27 off): The Dot is the most popular model in Amazon’s smart speaker family. Though it’s small, it puts out decent volume and music sounds pretty good from its speakers. But where it really shines is acting as your daily smart home assistant.

• Amazon Echo (4th Gen) for $50 ($50 off):The full-sized model is probably a better option if you plan to use your Echo as a music source regularly — not surprisingly, its bigger size makes for bigger sound, plus you can pair two together. It’s our recommendation for a smart speaker under $100.

• Amazon Echo Spot (2nd gen) for $45 ($35 off): The half-a-softball Spot with its tiny display went away for a time, but came back with a new look and a half-moon screen that can display the time, weather and the song that’s playing.

• Amazon Echo Pop for $18 ($22 off): The tiniest Echo device is best suited to a small space where it would be helpful to have Alexa’s assistance. It’s not built for high fidelity music playing, but will bop out a song as you get ready or make some dinner.

Best October Prime Day soundbar deals

Nathan Ingraham / Engadget

It’s not just you. The dialogue in TV shows is getting tougher to suss out. In my house, a soundbar has made a world of difference. Of course, these long speakers and sets also make movies more immersive. Engadget’s Billy Steele tested out a bunch, putting his favorites in our soundbar guide and, in good news for anyone ready to turn off the subtitles, Prime Day deals extend to a number of these things.

• Sennheiser Ambeo Mini for $600 ($200 off): The Ambeo Mini got a favorable review from us when it came out last year. Just note that it needs the Ambeo subwoofer or else the bass just gets lost in large, or even medium, rooms.

• Sonos Beam for $399 ($100 off): The Sonos Beam is our favorite midrange soundbar. It has solid sound quality, support for Dolby Atmos and is easy to set up. Just note that it only has one HDMI port, so you can’t hook up a console directly to the speaker.

• Sonos Ray for $234 ($45 off): Unfortunately, this isn’t the deepest discount we’ve seen this year on the Ray; it was $20 cheaper at the end of August. But this is one of the recommendations in our guide, because it puts out excellent sound in a compact bar with easy setup.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice, and stay tuned to Engadget.com for all of the best tech deals coming out of October Prime Day 2024.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-best-prime-day-speaker-deals-during-amazons-big-deal-days-sale-073606635.html?src=rss

We could all use a little help keeping track of our stuff, and Bluetooth trackers can do just that. Apple’s AirTags are some of the most popular available and you can pick them up for less right now thanks to Prime Day deals. A four-pack of AirTags is 19 percent off and down to $80, bringing the price per tag down to just $20 each. If you only need one, you can get a single AirTag for $25.

These are our top pick for the best Bluetooth trackers for iPhone users, thanks to their seamless connection with the iOS device and their integration with Apple’s Find My network. It takes mere seconds to pair and AirTag to your iPhone, assign it to your stuff and start monitoring its location via the Find My app.

We found AirTags to be quite accurate when locating lost things out in the while, and those with newer iPhones can take advantage of their ultra-wideband (UWB) wireless compatibility. When you’re close enough to your lost stuff, your iPhone can show you on-screen directions to lead you right to it.

AirTags also have solid separation alerts, which will notify you if you, say, leave a coffee shop without your bag or leave your jacket behind at a restaurant. In our testing, we got roughly 1,200 feet away before getting most separation alerts, which isn’t too far and should mean you cna easily (and quickly) return to grab your things before anything nefarious happens to them.

The main thing to know about AirTags, aside from their iOS exclusivity, is the fact that you don’t have a built in keyring hole. That means you’ll need an AirTag holder or case if you plan on attaching the small disk to your keys. If you want to use it to monitor a wallet or a backpack, you could more easily get away with just slipping it into an interior pocket. Also, AirTags run on coin-cell batteries; you shouldn’t have to replace it for a couple of years, though, and battery replacement is quite simple.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice, and stay tuned to Engadget.com for all of the best tech deals coming out of October Prime Day 2024.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-airtags-are-nearly-20-percent-off-for-prime-day-072900571.html?src=rss

Last Prime Day (way back in July), Amazon dropped the price of Apple’s current-model iPad mini to $380. October has now brought us a shiny new Prime Day sale and a new low price on the smallest Apple tablet, making it just $350. That’s a hefty $149 discount off the $499 sticker price.

It’s important to note that a new iPad mini may be announced soon — possibly during a yet-to-be announced October Apple event. But that new tablet isn’t likely to be discounted. Plus, what you buy now should get years of support, considering the 4th generation of the iPad mini got five years of OS and security updates after it was discontinued in 2019, and the 5th-gen iPad model is still supported after getting dropped from the official lineup in 2019. 

We name the mini the best (and only) compact option in our guide to the best iPads. As far as where the model lands on Apple’s tablet continuum, on one end there’s the massive, 13-inch, M4-equipped, professionals-only, computer-replacing iPad Pro. Over at the other end is the mini. It’s good at things like showing cooking videos, handling FaceTime calls and playing games — almost like a giant iPhone. 

The diminutive slab has an 8.3-inch screen that’s pretty easy to hold in one hand, thanks to bezels that split the difference between screen real estate and giving your fingers a comfortable place to grip. It’s equipped with Apple’s A15 Bionic system on a chip (SoC), which makes it technically faster than the standard 10th-gen iPad. And It’s compatible with the 2nd-gen Apple Pencil and the Apple Pencil USB-C.  

When it came out back in 2021, Engadget’s Valentina Palladino gave it a respectable review score of 89, praising the portability, that lead her to use it more often that she thought she would. She also found the updated 12MP front camera to be particularly nice for FaceTime calls, particularly with the Center Stage feature that keeps you in focus as you move about your space. 

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice, and stay tuned to Engadget.com for all of the best tech deals coming out of October Prime Day 2024.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-latest-apple-ipad-mini-falls-to-a-new-low-of-350-for-prime-day-072832244.html?src=rss

Since Apple never bothers to put its own products on sale, we have to rely on third party retailers to do it for them. Amazon Prime Day is always a good bet for Apple deals (as long as you’re not looking for new, unlocked iPhones) and this October event is no different. Right now, Apple’s over-ear headphones, the AirPods Max, have returned to $395. That’s a record low and one we first saw during July’s Prime Day sale. 

Note this is the model with a Lightning charging port. During the iPhone 16 event in September, Apple announced new standard AirPods but didn’t reveal a new pair of over-ear phones. Instead, the AirPods Max were given a couple of new colors and an upgrade to a USB-C port. Those models aren’t seeing the same discount, however. If you’re fine using an older charging method and don’t need one of the new colors, you can save a decent amount of cash. We should also point out that new Max headphones may come next year, but they aren’t likely to be near this price. 

Internally, the models are the same, with the same balanced audio and solid active noise cancellation we experienced during our review of the cans back in 2020. Our reviewer, Billy Steele, noted that the Max headphones are on the heavy side at 385 grams but that the design makes them feel remarkably light. The onboard controls are also a joy to use and the integration with Siri is helpful. 

Our main complaint with the Max is the high asking price. At $395 that issue is mitigated a bit, putting them around the same price as the top pick in our headphone guide. Still, for Apple fans who crave the brand’s premium build and aesthetic, this is a pretty good deal. 

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice, and stay tuned to Engadget.com for all of the best tech deals coming out of October Prime Day 2024.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apples-airpods-max-return-to-an-all-time-low-of-395-for-prime-day-072754255.html?src=rss

The Apple Watch may be our top pick for the best smartwatch you can get right now, but not everyone is going to feel comfortable spending $400 on a wearable — particularly if you’ve never had one before. Instead, we recommend the Apple Watch SE for folks who fit into that category, and October Prime Day deals are making it even more tempting to pick one up. The Apple Watch SE has dropped to a new low of $170 for the sale event, which is about $80 off.

While there were rumors Apple was going to release a new Watch SE in September alongside the latest iPhones, that didn’t materialize. The second-gen SE remains the most up-to-date version of the wearable, and it has very specific omissions to get its price down, namely the lack of an always-on display, no blood oxygen or temperature monitoring and no support for the Double Tap feature introduced with the Series 9.

But otherwise, the Apple Watch SE has all of the core features that the main Apple Watch Series 10 does including all-day activity and sleep monitoring, heart rate tracking, emergency calling, up to 50 meters of water resistance, crash detection and excellent workout tracking. It has a built-in GPS for making the latter even better, mapping outdoor activities like runs, and bike rides. And since it syncs seamlessly with iPhone, you can consider it an extension of your handset. That means you’ll receive call, text and app notifications to your wrist and you can decide which are important enough to whip out your phone for, or which can be left for later.

That said, arguably the biggest downside of the Apple Watch SE is one that all Apple Watches share — they only work with iPhones. But chances are, if you’re even considering an Apple Watch at all, you likely have the phone you’d need to use it (Android users should consider Samsung or Google wearables instead). And at this sale price, it’ll be hard to beat for iPhone users who are new to smartwatches or if you’re looking for a gift for an iPhone user in your life who you know is keen on tracking their activity more consistently or looking at the phone less throughout the day.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice, and stay tuned to Engadget.com for all of the best tech deals coming out of October Prime Day 2024.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-apple-watch-se-drops-to-a-new-low-of-170-in-this-prime-day-deal-072721213.html?src=rss