Vizio’s M-Series 5.1.2 premium soundbar is selling for just $349.99 at GameStop. | Image: Vizio
If your TV’s built-in speakers are just not cutting it, a soundbar like Vizio’s M-Series 5.1.2 can considerably amp up the sound quality. This particular Vizio soundbar is one of our favorites, offering a full Dolby Atmos soundbar system for a more immersive surround sound experience for far less than $500. The Bluetooth-equipped soundbar comes with a 6-inch wireless subwoofer, a backlit remote control, and two wired, upfiring rear speakers, which replicate the kind of sound you might expect to hear from in-ceiling speakers. Other companies would usually require you to buy these separately, making this system a great value for your money — especially today, as it’s just $349.99 at GameStop. That is a $150 discount and a new all-time low.
Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge
When its bright, Samsung’s Galaxy A53 captures good quality pictures with saturated colors.
In the market for a budget-friendly smartphone? Then you might want to check out today’s deal on the Samsung Galaxy A53, which is currently on sale for just $349.99 ($100 off) at Amazon and Samsung. The A53 5G is our favorite Android smartphone for under $500, namely because it’s an all-around excellent device that offers several impressive features for the price. This includes a 6.5-inch OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate for a smooth scrolling experience as well as all-day battery life. Plus, its main 64MP camera stands out among midrange phones thanks to optical image stabilization, which allows your photos to look sharper when the lighting isn’t great.
Our favorite feature, though, is the fact Samsung promises five years of security updates — the longest software support policy that Android phone manufacturers offer. That, combined with Samsung’s promise of four years of Android OS version updates and an IP67 dust and water resistance rating, means this phone should last you a long time. Read our review.
If you’ve been wanting the AirPods Pro but are turned off by the near $200 price tag, you might want to check out the OnePlus Buds Pro. These true wireless earbuds offer better noise cancellation and a superior IP55 rating for dust and water resistance but for far less money. Typically $149.99, Amazon is currently selling the true wireless earbuds in either black or white for $119.99 — a record low — with the wireless charging case included.
Not only do these earbuds sound good but also their voice call performance is better than others in this price range. They’re lightweight and comfortable, and we consider them among our favorite noise-canceling buds on the market. They’re not a great fit for large ears, Chris Welch noted in his review. But that aside, they’re generally good — particularly for OnePlus fans — and they offer a great value overall. Read our review.
If you want to add a bit of color and artistic lighting to your space, the Nanoleaf Lines Smarter Kit is a great option. The kit includes nine Lines, which are backlit LED light bars that can be controlled via Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit, or Google Assistant, and they support the Matter smart home standard. The Lines can display a variety of colors and patterns as well as an array of pre-loaded scenes that you can enable with the touch of a button or voice command.
As a result, you can create a calming sunset in your living room or a nightclub vibe that feels more real given these lights are also capable of pulsing in real time with your music. Plus, if you choose to stick them behind your TV or gaming monitor, you can turn on a screen mirroring feature that prompts the lights to match the colors actively displayed on your screen.
Unfortunately, you can’t link the lights with other Nanoleaf panels given their unique design, and the kit doesn’t come particularly cheap at $200. Thankfully, however, you can buy the Smarter Kit right now for just $179.99 at Amazon and Best Buy. That’s only a modest $20 off their normal asking price, but it’s also the lowest price we’ve seen. Read our review.
For those who can live without noise cancellation in a pair of true wireless earbuds, Anker’s Soundcore Liberty Air 2 represent a tremendous value for less than $40. They’re some of the best budget-friendly earbuds you can buy right now, especially given they’re currently on sale via Amazon and Soundcore for $38.99 instead of $79.99.
The Liberty Air 2 are worth considering if you make a lot of voice calls, primarily because they offer great microphone performance for the price. They also impressed us with their sound quality and long battery life, which lasts up to seven hours without the case or up to 28 hours with it. If you can live with the sometimes-finicky tap controls, these are otherwise solid earbuds that won’t break the bank.
More deals to help you through the midweek slump
Asus’ Chromebook Detachable CM3 is one of the best cheap laptops on the market, one that comes with a folding kickstand, impressive battery life, and a built-in stylus. Regularly $369.99, you can buy it on Amazon with a MediaTek 8183 processor, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of eMMC storage for just $299.99.
If you prefer over-ear headphones over earbuds, Sennheiser’s Momentum Wireless 3 are currently on sale for $249.98 instead of $399.98 at Best Buy. These comfortable headphones offer terrific, bass-rich sound and software features like customizable EQ. Read our review.
Instant cameras are fun, but the film they eat up can make them an expensive purchase in the long run. Thankfully, you can buy a pack of 20 Instax Mini prints today on Amazon for $13.98 instead of $20.75.