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Plus, more of today’s deals on the Xbox Elite Series 2 Core controller, the latest Echo Dot bundled with a smart bulb, and several other tech and gaming discounts.
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The most recent crop of Beats headphones and earbuds just can’t stop going on sale. Once again, since their release in July, the Beats Studio Pro noise-canceling headphones are on sale for $249.95 ($100 off) at Woot.
Beats’ latest wireless cans may look a lot like many of the company’s prior ones, but the Studio Pro are outfitted with modern features like noise cancellation, a transparency mode, lossless audio via USB-C, spatial audio, up to 40 hours of battery life, and flexible support for both iPhones and Android phones. They may look a little ho-hum compared to more dramatic designs in the top class of current headphones or Apple’s own AirPods Max, but if you still dig the typical Beats stylings, they’re more than serviceable headphones — especially at this steeply discounted price.
The new Beats Studio Pro feature improved noise cancellation, sound quality, and comfort. They also support lossless audio over USB-C, making them the first Apple headphones to do so.
Microsoft’s Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 Core in white and black is matching its all-time low price of $99 ($30 off) at Amazon and Walmart. This discount makes it about as affordable as it gets for any Xbox or PC gamer to experience a premium-built controller. The Core version of the Elite Series 2 features a built-in rechargeable battery and a higher level of build quality compared to the standard AA-powered Xbox gamepad. It’s also got rubberized grips, a metallic dish-shaped D-pad, hair-trigger lockouts, and software customization with three custom profiles. Plus, you can take the customization further by purchasing a pack of accessories that include different analog stick toppers, a traditional D-pad, rear paddle buttons, and a zip-up case with passthrough charging. The accessories come standard on the pricier Elite 2, but here, you can start cheaper and add them if you choose.
The Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 – Core is functionally identical to the more expensive Elite Series 2 but doesn’t come with the extra D-pad, back paddles, thumbsticks, or charging case.
There’s bound to be a bunch of discounted Amazon devices during the upcoming Prime Big Deal Days event on October 10th and 11th, but if you feel you need a smart speaker sooner than that, check out Amazon’s bundle of the fifth-gen Echo Dot with a Philips Hue bulb for just $38.97 ($27 off).
The latest Echo Dot comes in two flavors, a pricier one with a dot-matrix style clock display and one without — this deal is on the latter that maintains most of the same features for less. The base Dot is one of the easiest ways to get into Amazon’s smart home ecosystem and utilize its Alexa voice assistant for simple tasks, calling up music, or hearing news and weather updates. The latest Dots also have built-in temperature sensors for using with smart home routines like turning on a fan in a room when it gets a little too warm.
The fifth-gen Echo Dot touts a temperature sensor, better sound, and faster response time than the prior model. It can also act as an extender for your Eero Wi-Fi system and a Matter controller. Right now, Amazon is offering it with a free Philips Hue white smart bulb with each purchase, a total value of $65.97.
Kickin’ the week off with more deals:
- If you prefer a solid Alexa-powered smart speaker for as little as possible (without buying something used or quite old), the fourth-gen Echo Dot from 2020 is selling for just $18.99 ($31 off) at Woot. Its sound quality may not be as good as on the newer model, but it’s handy if you want to plant a few smart speakers around your home at a low cost.
- Newegg is selling the 4TB XPG Gammix S70 Blade SSD for $249.99 ($40 off) on a one-day deal. The PS5-compatible drive comes with a preinstalled heatsink so it can easily be installed and expand the console’s storage by four times as much as the built-in SSD.
- LG’s Gram 16 laptop with a 13th Gen Intel 1360P processor, 1TB SSD, 16GB of RAM, and large QHD display with 16:10 aspect ratio is on sale for $999.99 ($700 off) at Best Buy and Amazon. The 16-inch laptop weighs in at just 2.6 pounds, which is slightly lighter than Apple’s smaller 13-inch M2 MacBook Air.
- EA’s Immortals of Aveum may have been a bit of a misfire, sales-wise, but if you’re curious about the “Call of Duty but with magic”-style first-person shooter starring Gina Torres, you can get it on PS5 or Xbox Series X for $39.99 ($30 off) at Best Buy.
- I didn’t even realize Razer makes Hello Kitty-licensed accessories, but then again, of course it does. You can get the pink, Friends-ified Razer DeathAdder Essential gaming mouse and medium-size Goliathus mousepad bundle for $49.99 ($10 off) at Amazon.