Amazon’s new Echo Show 8 brings a faster chip, better speakers, and the most important update of all: widgets. | Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge
Happy Friday, folks! Well, now that Christmas is officially behind us, the deals are quickly drying up. Nonetheless, there are still a few deals worth busting out those newly minted gift cards for. Amazon’s latest Echo Show 8 has dropped to a new low, for example, while the Tile Mate has returned to its best price to date. There’s also a bunch of other stuff on sale right now, including a terrific pair of noise-canceling earbuds and OnePlus’ first mechanical keyboard, so let’s begin.
First off, Amazon has apparently decided to save some of its best deals for after the holiday season, or at least until after Christmas. Right now, the third-gen Echo Show 8 is on sale at Amazon for Prime members for $89.99 ($60 off). That’s a new all-time low, one that easily beats the smart display’s recent Black Friday price of $104.99.
If you’re looking for an Alexa-enabled smart display, you can’t go wrong with the newest Echo Show 8. It’s a highly capable device, one that’s faster than the prior model from 2021 and offers better sound courtesy of a redesigned speaker system with spatial audio support. What’s particularly helpful about the new Show, however, is that it supports up to four widgets and functions as a Matter controller, a Zigbee hub, and a Thread border router, letting you use it to control a wide swath of smart home devices with ease.
If you’re not in the market for a full-on smart display, fret not because Amazon is also currently discounting the fourth-gen Echo to its lowest price to date. Right now, Prime members can buy the smart speaker at Amazon for $49.99 (half off); it’s also on sale at Best Buy and Target for a mere $10 more if you don’t have an Amazon Prime membership.
Despite having launched in 2020, the latest Echo is still a great speaker that sounds better than the newer, fifth-gen Echo Dot. While it’s not a fully-fledged smart home hub like the Echo Show 8, you can still use it to control a wealth of compatible smart home gadgets, including lights, smart plugs, TVs, and other devices. It can also act as a range extender if you’re on an Eero mesh Wi-Fi network while allowing you to set alarms, get news reports, and carry out a host of other tasks using just your voice.
If you want to dip your toes into the world of mechanical keyboards, the OnePlus Keyboard 81 Pro is currently on sale via OnePlus in the Winter Bonfire configuration with double-shot PBT keycaps and tactile switches for $179 ($40 off). If you prefer a lighter shade, you can also buy it in the Summer Breeze configuration with “marble-mallow” keycaps and linear switches for $199 ($40 off).
After spending some time with OnePlus’ first mechanical keyboard, my colleague Jon Porter concluded it’s like a OnePlus-branded alternative to Keychron’s top-notch Q1 Pro. Both offer hot-swappable switches and are customizable using the VIA app, but OnePlus’ offering comes with some extra perks. The wireless 75 percent board features a height-adjustable kickstand, for one, along with quieter cylindrical keycaps that make it great for office use.
A few more deals to kickstart your weekend
- Sony’s WF-1000XM4 earbuds are on sale at B&H Photo for $168 ($110 off) through December 31st. Although they’re no longer the newest model, the wireless earbuds still offer a great combination of noise cancellation, sound, and voice quality, even if they’re not quite on par with Sony’s newer XM5s. Read our review.
- The latest Tile Mate is down to $15.99 ($9 off) at Amazon, which matches its all-time low. You can also buy the Tile Pro for $22.99 ($12 off) at Amazon and Walmart. Both are great platform-agnostic Bluetooth trackers, however, the Tile Mate can only keep tabs on items from up to 250 feet away, while the Tile Pro can help you track belongings from a maximum of 400 feet.
- Readers of The Verge can get 30 percent off Speck’s full suite of accessories when they use promo code VERGE30 at checkout before January 2nd. The sale encompasses a range of products, from backpacks and tablet cases to MagSafe accessories like the Presidio2 Grip MagSafe case for the iPhone 15, which drops to $37.99 when you use the aforementioned coupon.
- You can pick up Apple’s last-gen, entry-level iPad with 64GB of storage and Wi-Fi for around $249 ($80 off) at Walmart and Best Buy. We still think the 2021 model is the best budget iPad even with the arrival of the 10th-gen model, as it offers speedy performance, a sharp 10.2-inch screen, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.
- Amazon’s Smart Thermostat is going for just $39.99 at Amazon in refurbished condition, which is $40 less than the cost of buying it new. Along with a clean, minimalist design, it adapts to your habits and preferences over time, much like pricier models. Just be aware that it only integrates with Amazon Alexa. Read our review.
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