Photo by Jennifer Tuohy / The Verge
Apple’s short, stout HomePod Mini usually costs $99.99, but Best Buy is offering a $20 discount today on the smart speaker. You can snag one for $79.99, which is the retailer’s lowest price yet, in addition to one of the best deals we’ve seen for it. If you’re in Apple’s ecosystem of products, there aren’t many other choices for buying a smart speaker that’s fully compatible with the Siri voice assistant, or HomeKit, for commanding certain smart home tech via the speaker. Still, it’s a great speaker that offers good sound quality for its size, and unlike the discontinued HomePod, this one’s compact enough to fit almost anywhere near a wall outlet.
This deal is available on most of Apple’s vibrant colorways for the HomePod Mini, including blue, white, and black, but excluding yellow and orange. Read our review.
If you’re in the market for an affordable, lightweight (just 66 grams), and fully featured wireless gaming mouse, Best Buy’s $59.99 deal on the SteelSeries Aerox 3 mouse is tough to beat. This mouse usually costs $99.99 (you’ll see the price drop when you’re signed in with your free My Best Buy account), and it’s available in black or white. This model supports 2.4GHz wireless via its USB-C wireless receiver or Bluetooth and can last up to 200 hours on a charge. Not for nothing, this mouse has an IP54 rating, giving it a fighting chance of survival against water and lots of dust. Read more coverage here.
At Amazon and Best Buy, the Beats Studio Buds are back down to their lowest price of $99.99, matching the Black Friday deal. These normally cost $149.99, and they’re an especially appealing deal today if you want noise-canceling earbuds that are comfy to wear, with Android support and USB-C charging, to boot. Per our review, $100 seems like a good price to pay considering the perks and cons of the Studio Buds. You’ll get good sound quality, but their noise cancellation and mic performance likely won’t impress you all that much. Read our review.
Starting this Wednesday…
• PS Plus subscribers who previously redeemed @FinalFantasy VII Remake via @PlayStation Plus will be able to upgrade to the PS5 version of the game.
• Episode Intermission, the DLC featuring Yuffie Kisaragi, will be 25% off for a limited time! pic.twitter.com/mnkCIRR586
— FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE (@finalfantasyvii) December 19, 2021
Were you one of the people who picked up a digital copy of Final Fantasy VII Remake as a PS Plus perk several months ago? You may remember, then, that Square Enix wouldn’t allow those free copies to be upgraded to the faster, prettier PS5 version of the game. Well, ’tis the season of giving, and starting Wednesday, December 22nd, you’ll be able to upgrade your digital PS4 copy to the PS5 version for no extra cost. This is great if you purchased a PS5 since the game was handed out back in March 2021. Stay tuned for details on exactly how to run through the process.
Also on December 22nd, Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade’s Yuffie DLC will be 25 percent off, letting you pick up the expansion at a discount.
Photo by Cameron Faulkner / The Verge
The LG Gram 17 is pictured here, but the Gram 16 looks identical, just a smidge smaller.
If you’re a Costco member, you can get a stellar deal on LG’s Gram 16 laptop (model 16T90P) that has a 16-inch IPS display, a capable Intel Core i7-1165G7 processor, a touchscreen, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD. It costs $1,746.99 at Amazon, but Costco members can get it for just $1,199.99. This deal was picked up by Slickdeals. Unfortunately, this deal isn’t available for non-members, like some of Costco’s products are.
I reviewed the LG Gram 17 for 2021, and it’s essentially a must-buy laptop if you want a big but lightweight and quiet Windows machine and surprisingly long-lasting battery life. Read our review.
Other deals you might be interested in
Samsung’s 49-inch Odyssey G9 curved gaming monitor with a 240Hz refresh rate is back down to $999.99 at Amazon, matching the Black Friday deal. Read our review.
The Samsung Galaxy Book Go, with a Snapdragon 7c processor, 128GB of storage, and a claimed 18 hours of battery life, costs just $260.99 at Amazon, down from $349.99. We haven’t tested this model yet, but it seems like a decent deal if you want an affordable Windows laptop.
AfterShokz’ Aeropex wireless bone conduction headphones are $119.99 at Best Buy in the black colorway, down from $159.99.