Sony’s ultra-light LinkBuds S are $70 off at Best Buy

Happy first Saturday of 2023! What, that’s not a thing that people celebrate? Well, it is today because we’ve got some exceptional deals for you to check out. Teeing us off are the Sony LinkBuds S, which are on sale at Best Buy for $129.99 ($70 off) in their desert sand color. This colorway is a Best Buy exclusive, and the current sale drops the active noise-canceling (ANC) earbuds to their lowest price to date.

The LinkBuds S are one of Sony’s more premium pairs of wireless earbuds. In addition to their ANC, they’re also special because of how lightweight and comfortable they are. Another bonus is that they support Sony’s LDAC codec for near-lossless audio. Their sound quality may not exactly match that of Sony’s pricier WF-1000XM4 earbuds, but these are far more affordable with this discount. However, be aware that their case lacks wireless charging. Read our review.

Although there have been a bunch of terrific monitors announced at CES this week, many of them are going to be on the pricey side when they arrive later this year. In the meantime, LG’s 27-inch UltraGear gaming monitor is an excellent yet affordable 1440p model that’s currently on sale for $249.99 ($50 off) at Newegg.

The QHD monitor features a fast 1ms response time, a high refresh rate of 144Hz with G-Sync support to prevent screen tearing, and its IPS panel runs at an up to 2560 x 1440 resolution. It also has two HDMI 2.0 ports and one DisplayPort connection, so you can hook up multiple devices for both work and play. It may not have show-stopping specs or a gargantuan panel, but 27 inches is a great size for many peoples’ desks, and the versatile, height-adjustable stand can tilt and swivel. It’s hard to beat this value without dropping down to a smaller size or to a lower-res panel.

Deals on Google’s Nest smart home devices are common, but this one’s unique: right now you can get the latest version of its Nest Mini speakerfor just $24.99 ($25 off) from Wyze with your choice of a Wyze Bulb Color, a two-pack of smart plugs, an outdoor smart plug, or a smart light switch included

The Nest Mini smart speaker is one of the simplest, most compact ways to bring the Google Assistant into your home. It allows you to control a range of compatible smart home accessories with just your voice (or get the weather or news updates read to you on-demand), in addition to telling it to crank up the jams. Wyze’s custom bundle makes for a great smart home addition, too, since it lets you pick based on what you want, be it a new smart bulb or a smart plug that’ll let you easily control some older, “dumb” accessories, like lamps and window A/C units. Read our review.

If you haven’t already given up on the whole New Year’s resolution thing (you can do it, by the way — stick with it!), a wearable can be a great motivator for maintaining good fitness habits. Thankfully, the Apple Watch Series 8 is on sale in the 41mm, GPS configuration for $349 ($50 off) at Best Buy. Amazon is matching that price, but only on the bright and bold red model.

The Apple Watch Series 8 isn’t a huge leap over 2021’s Series 7 in any way, but it’s full of incremental upgrades like crash detection and a temperature sensor for menstrual cycle tracking. Add those to the laundry list of other things the Apple Watch can do — notifications, heart rate tracking, sleep tracking, etc. — and it might become a must-have gadget for you. Just try not to beat yourself up when you can’t close all of your rings, ok? Read our review.

Now, if you’re really hardcore about fitness and outdoorsy stuff, the Apple Watch Ultra is also on sale for $50 off, bringing the lofty price tag down to $749 at Amazon and Best Buy.

That’s plenty of coin, sure, but the Ultra is by far the biggest Apple Watch with the best battery life. It’s got a 49mm screen, a titanium case, more sensors than any other Apple Watch, along with a customizable action button. So, there’s a lot to like if you can get over the watch’s heftiness on your wrist. It’s also the most durable watch in Apple’s current lineup, as it’s meant to take a beating when doing rigorous activities.

If you haven’t seen it yet, be sure to check out our extended review video where we gave the Apple Watch Ultra to five different professionals. It’s a treat, even if you’re not in the market for one of these. Read our review.

Speaking of Apple, you can get the 14-inch MacBook Pro for $400 off at Best Buy, which is a great deal we rarely see. The current discount drops the price of the base model with the M1 Pro CPU, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD from $1,999 to $1,599. You’d be hard-pressed to find a better value in a laptop of price-to-performance when it comes to doing creative work, especially when you consider how good the battery life is. Plus, the latest MacBook Pro models bring back MagSafe charging along with helpful ports like HDMI and an SD card slot. Sure, there’s a notch at the top of the screen, but you will likely learn to ignore it — or find a clever use for it with the help of some software. Read our review.

Some great deals from this week that are still available

• Google’s Nest Wifi Pro is still receiving its biggest discount yet, with a single router now costing $159.99 ($40 off) and a three-pack going for $319.99 ($80 off) at Amazon. If you pay for up to gigabit internet speeds in your home, it’s hard to beat this value when it comes to mesh Wi-Fi routers. Read our review.
• You can still save $20 on the Elgato Stream Deck MK.2 and its handy set of macro keys, as it’s currently on sale for $129.99 at Best Buy and Amazon. It’s got 15 keys that work just as well for setting up Zoom calls as they do for controlling your Twitch stream and smart lighting setup. Check out our Vergecast episode about it.
• Ring Fit Adventure is down to $54.99 ($25 off) at Best Buy and GameStop. The unique Nintendo Switch game uses a pilates-style controller accessory and leg strap to guide you through cardio and strength workouts, which are more fun than exercising at a crowded gym. Read our review.