As another week winds to a close, it’s time for Engadget’s roundup of the best deals we spotted this week. There’s no giant sale happening right now, but we still found a few decent discounts on some of our recommended tech, including 40 percent off a year’s subscription to Max’s streaming service, $130 off our favorite Android tablet and a new low price on our top mouse for gaming. If you’ve been considering a foldable phone but have been (understandably) turned off by the high prices, a both Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Google’s Pixel Fold are currently on sale and going for $400 and $500 off, respectively. Here are the best tech deals from this week that you can still get today.
Max
Max will run its 40-percent-off promotion until Tuesday, April 9. If you think you’ll watch the streaming service a fair amount in the next twelve months, you may want to take advantage. Any new subscriber can get the deal, but some returning and existing customers are eligible too. If you previously had a plan through the Apple App Store or Google Play, and are returning, you can save. If you’re a current member and signed up for your subscription through Max’s site, you’re eligible.
All three tiers are seeing the discount, including the top-tier, ad-free plan with 4K support, which is now $140 annually instead of $240. The mid-level plan is also ad-free but doesn’t support 4K content and that one is $105 for the year, instead of $192. The cheapest plan is ad-supported and down to $70 yearly, instead of $120.
Jeff Dunn / Engadget
If you need extra storage for a device that takes microSD cards, here’s a good price on a terabyte. The 1TB version of Lexar’s Professional 1066x card is now down to $76.49 on Amazon which is a 47 percent discount off the list price (though it regularly goes for $85) and the lowest price we’ve tracked.
The Professional 1066x is not a formal pick in our microSD card guide, as it’s a bit slower than our top choices, though not drastically. Those top picks are Samsung’s Pro Plus and Pro Ultimate, but neither are seeing much of a discount right now. Other storage that is on sale includes sales on more Lexar gear, Seagate cards and Crucial RAM.
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The entry-level, second-generation Apple AirPods from 2019 are down to $89 from their full price of $129 at Amazon and Walmart (note they regularly sell for $99). The sale isn’t an all-time low, but beats the lowest we’ve seen this year by a dollar. These don’t have active noise cancellation or transparency mode, have an older chip and the audio isn’t as good as the later generations. But if you’re just looking for a pair of buds that work well with Siri at a sub-$100 price, this could be the way to go.
For upgraded sound, check out the third-generation Apple AirPods which are 13 percent of making them $149 from their $169 list price. In addition to better sound, these add an hour of battery life and Spatial Audio support.
Apple’s top-of-the-line second-gen AirPods Pro are marked down to $199 from $249 at Amazon and down to $200 at Target — a 20 percent discount that they’ve seen for many months now. They are our top pick for earbuds for iOS and deliver active noise canceling, great sound with an H2 chip and a MagSafe USB-C charging case.
Photo by Jeff Dunn / Engadget
The top gaming mouse in our buyer’s guide is down to $40 after a 43 percent discount which matches the all-time low. The Razer Basilisk V3 offers a complete blend of price, performance, build quality and comfort. We liked its sturdy body and textured matte finish. Plus the grip is comfortable and likely will be for most people, though perhaps not for those with the smallest hands. Also the buttons are relatively quiet and not tiring to press repeatedly, an important consideration in a gaming mouse.
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Our top Android tablet is now on sale. Currently, Amazon, Best Buy and Samsung’s own site are selling the base-model Galaxy Tab S9 for $670. That’s $130 off the list price and the lowest price we’ve seen yet, beating the previous low it hit a few weeks ago. The Tab S9 family is our top choice for Android tablets, thanks to their multitasking abilities, aided by DeX mode that adds PC-like function and a speedy Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor. The OLED displays are gorgeous and the included S Pen makes note taking and drawing rather pleasant. Add accessories like a keyboard case and you’re getting a tablet that acts a lot like a PC.
Samsung
Samsung’s Galaxy Tab A9+ is also on sale and down to $170 instead of $220 at Amazon, Walmart and Best Buy. That’s the lowest priced we’ve tracked, though the discount has been around for a few weeks now. The deal applies to the base model in either Graphite or Sliver with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, which is expandable with a microSD card. If you want a little more RAM for gaming and heavier use, you may want to go for the model with 8GB of memory. That model is down to $220 after a $50 discount.
We named the Tb A9+ the budget pick in our Android tablet buying guide because it covers the basics well. It has an 11-inch LCD display with a 90Hz refresh rate. The battery is decent but the charging rate is rather slow at 15W.
Logitech
A decent key light can improve how you look on camera and now Logitech’s Litra Beam is $10 off and down to $90, which is only $5 more than the lowest price we’ve seen.
It’s a stylish-looking accessory with a three-way adjustable stand, allowing you to adjust the height, tilt and rotation. It can run on either USB or AC power so you can put it wherever makes sense for your setup. The device uses TrueSoft tech, which, according to Logitech, provides “balanced, full-spectrum LED light with cinematic color accuracy for a natural, radiant look across all skin tones.” The frameless diffuser should mitigate harsh shadows, too.
Photo by Jon Turi / Engadget
The JBL Charge 5 is back down to $130 at Amazon and directly from JBL. That’s not an all-time low, but still $30 or so less than it’s been selling for lately. The Charge 5 is a mid-range pick in our guide to the best Bluetooth speakers. It packs a big sound for its roughly two-pound size and it’s IP67-rated, so it can survive a dunk in water. The battery is big enough to supply up to 20 hours of listening and can even lend a little refill to your phone if you need it. The new low price may have something to do with the release of the Wi-Fi-enabled version — this one just connects via Bluetooth only.
Shark
A robot vacuum can be a low-effort way to start your spring cleaning, which makes this sale on Shark robovacs particularly timely. One notable deal is a 44 percent discount on Shark’s AI Robot Vacuum and Mop. That brings it down to $270 from $480, which is just $20 more than its all-time low price. It’s pretty similar to one of the top picks in our guide to robot vacuums, Shark’s $700 Ultra 2-in-1 Robot Vacuum and Mop, except the discounted model doesn’t have a self emptying base.
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If you’ve been thinking of getting a folding phone, now might be a good time to shop. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 is $400 off the list price at Amazon, dropping the base model with 256GB of storage down to $1,400 instead of $1,800 — that’s still not cheap for a phone, but the savings does take out some of the sting.
We named the Galaxy Z Fold 5 both the best phone for multitasking and the best foldable flagship phone overall in two different smartphone guides. We also gave it a score of 86 in our review.
It’s a solid phone though we do wish Samsung was doing more to take advantage of its head start in the foldable space — or at least brought down the price. Amazon is also selling Google’s entry in the foldable race, the Pixel Fold for $500 off.
TP-Link
If you have Wi-Fi dead spots in your home and aren’t ready to pony up for a mesh system, you may want to look into an extender. The RE700X model of TP-Link AX300 Wi-Fi extender is on sale for $90 after a 25 percent discount. That’s within a dollar of the all-time low it hit last year as part of Black Friday sales. This is a variation of the extender we named the best overall in our guide and lacks adjustable antennae, but the other specs are the same.
We liked the AX3000 for its their coverage range, Wi-Fi 6 support and a high max speed of up to 2402 Mbps on the 5GHz band and 574 Mbps on 2.4GHz band.
Photo by Valentina Palladino / Engadget
One of our favorite ereaders, the Kobo Libra 2, is down to $170 directly from Kobo. That’s a $20 discount, though not an all-time low. We recommend the Libra 2 in our ereader buying guide as the best model with buttons. It has a premium feel, a waterproof design and an ergonomic build that’s a pleasure to hold for long periods of time.
The 7-inch, 300 dpi display is crisp and the built-in integration with Overdrive makes it easy to borrow, download and read ebooks from your local library. Plus the Kobo store has a selection that’s nearly as vast as Kindle — it’s just missing the self-published and Amazon-published titles.
OnePlus
Smartphones don’t have to cost as much as the rent on a Santa Monica studio apartment — you can easily find one at Cleveland rental prices. The OnePlus Nord N30 5G is our pick for the best cheap phone you can buy and right now it’s $50 off, making that recommendation even more relevant. That isn’t a record low price, but its close. The discount comes as part of a larger sale on OnePlus phones and earbuds.
The Nord N30 5G offers has a relatively speedy Snapdragon 695 5G processor, 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. There’s also a 16MP front-facing camera and, a 108MP main and 2MP macro lens on the back.
PlayStation
According to Sony’s PS5 landing page, this deal should have expired at the end of March, but here we are nearly a week into April and it’s still live as of this writing. A bundle pairing the PlayStation 5 with a digital copy of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is still $50 off, bringing the standard console down to $449 and the disc-drive-less version down to $399.
There are rumors of a “PS5 Pro” but the current model can still play many games at 4K and/or 60fps, and its library has steadily improved over time. Spider-Man 2 is of the system’s more acclaimed exclusives; we called it “perfectly balanced” in our review. The game normally goes for $70 on its own.
Photo by Devindra Hardawar / Engadget
The Meta Quest 2 VR headset is $199 at Amazon and Walmart, a $50 discount, but sadly, the sweeter deal that included a Meta Quest store credit in addition to the discount has expired.
The Quest 2 is the budget pick in our guide to VR headsets. It’s not as sharp, fast or feature-rich as the newer Meta Quest 3, but it can still run just about all the platform’s best games and apps and serves as a good introduction to VR.
Photo by Sam Rutherford / Engadget
The base model, 256GB Pixel Fold is $500 off and down to $1,299 at Amazon and the Google Store. The 512GB version is also $500 off and down to $1,419. The previous low for both versions was $100 more.
The Pixel Fold is the runner up in our foldable phone buying guide and we gave it a score of 85 in our review last year. It has a 5.8-inch cover display and a 7.6-inch interior display. We found it takes better pictures than the Samsung Galaxy Fold 5, and the wider shape makes it easier to use the exterior screen than the Galaxy’s thinner design. However Samsung’s foldable phone has a brighter screen and faster performance. The Galaxy Fold 5 is on sale for $1,400.
Breville
If you’re looking for an air fryer that could very well replace your oven, you’d do well to check out the Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro. Right now it’s down for $320, which is an $80 discount that matches the best price we’ve seen. You can get the same deal at Amazon, Best Buy and Williams Sonoma. This made the list in our guide to the best air fryers as an option that can toast, broil, roast and bake in addition to air frying. It’s big enough to cook a 14-pound turkey or fit a five-quart dutch oven just keep in mind that it’s rather large, taking up a cubic foot of space with its 40-pound girth.
Samsung
There’s still time to get a free TV from Samsung when you pre-order one of their new models for 2024. Until April 11, Samsung will throw in a 65-inch 4K TV when you pre-order a new OLED, 8K, 4K or Frame TVs for 2024. We hesitate to call this a great deal: Many of the better Samsung TVs from last year are now available for much cheaper, and we can’t say how much of an upgrade the new models will be until we see more reviews drop. On paper, they don’t look to be huge leaps, though the top-end S95D OLED TV may be notable for its new anti-glare panel. The freebie TV is also a basic entry-level model from 2022, the Samsung TU690T.
Still, this is a decent sweetener if you’re willing to pay for one of the latest models and could use any sort of large screen for a secondary room around the house. The offer may be particularly appealing if you want a new Frame TV, as the previous version is currently going for the same price as the 2024 model. You can read more about this discount here.
Anker
One of the Anker chargers from last month’s sale is still on sale, though it’s $2 more than the low it hit in March. The 735 Nano 2 65W wall charger goes for $56 at full price but now, thanks to a 29 percent discount and an additional 15 percent, on-page coupon, it’s down to $34. It has three ports, including two USB-C connections and one standard USB-A connection.
Save $22 with coupon
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