The discount only applies when you bundle the company’s latest smart bulbs and select items. | Image: Philips Hue
Whether you’re looking to decorate your home with colorful smart lights or shopping for that perfect holiday gift, Philips Hue lights are popping with color, decent brightness, and broad compatibility with voice assistants. They tend to be more expensive than similar offerings from Wyze and Sengled, but Amazon is currently taking 20 percent off your total purchase when you buy three select Philips Hue smart bulbs, light strips, lamps, and accessories.
In terms of what’s available, there is a range of options to choose from. Some, like the Signe floor and table lamp, are already discounted, while others are only available for the full retail price. As an example, you can bundle two Lightstrip Plus extensions with a 1,100-lumen A19 color bulb for $107.96 (normally $135). That’s not bad if you’re looking to expand the smart lighting in your home while picking up a gift for someone else on your list.
If you struck out on picking up a laptop during Black Friday, Apple’s M2-equipped MacBook Air is once again down to $1,049 ($150 off) in the 256GB configuration at Amazon and Best Buy. That’s the best price we’ve seen on the 13.6-inch laptop and the same deal we saw during Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
As far as endorsements go, we consider Apple’s latest MacBook Air the best laptop for most people, one that should cater to students and professionals alike. It improves on the last-gen M1 model with faster performance thanks to its M2 chip, a better 1080p webcam, and a nicer display, though keep in mind that the storage on the base model is slower than that of the prior M1 Air. Read our review.
Shifting back to the holidays, Amazon’s Fire HD tablets make for entertaining yet affordable gifts — and they’re once again on sale after dropping to an all-time low during Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Amazon’s ad-supported Fire HD 10, for example, is currently on sale with 32GB of storage for $89.99 ($60 off) at Amazon, Target, and Best Buy. While the current sale price doesn’t match the 50 percent discount we saw just a couple of weeks ago, it’s only $15 shy of the tablet’s lowest price to date.
The Fire HD 10 isn’t going to match an iPad or a more premium tablet when it comes to features or power, but it’s still one we recommend if you’re looking to pick up a cheap tablet for reading, watching movies, or consuming content that comes with a Prime subscription. It features a sharp, colorful 1080p display, relatively good performance, and battery life that should hold you over throughout the day. Read our review.
If you want something even more affordable, Amazon’s ad-supported Fire HD 8 is currently on sale with 32GB of storage at Amazon, Target, and Best Buy for $54.99 instead of $99.99, matching its all-time low. Though its display isn’t as large or as sharp as the screen on the Fire HD 10, you’ll still be able to use the budget-friendly entertainment device for streaming, reading ebooks, and light gaming just fine. Read our Fire HD 8 Plus review.
Just a few more…
Now until December 21st, Amazon will give you up to $10 in Amazon credit when you buy select gift cards from GameStop, Roblox, Google Play, Grubhub, and a handful of other stores. It’s a nice way to save on your Amazon purchases if you already shop at any of the aforementioned retailers.
You can currently score up to 80 percent off select Xbox games from Microsoft, making now a good time to pick up older titles that you may have missed, including Borderlands 3 (now $17.49) and Batman: Arkham Knight (now $5.99).
JBL’s Charge 5 is on sale right now for $139.95 instead of $179.95 at Amazon and $139.99 at Target and Best Buy. The popular Bluetooth speaker is one of our favorite models thanks to its exceptionally long battery life, which can last up to 20 hours.