AirPods Pros, Lots of Chargers, and More Early Black Friday Tech Deals

Sony’s WH-1000 headphones have been some of my favorite for listening to music since I started testing headphones in 2020. The latest version, which just came out this year, is down to its lowest price ever. It has more balanced sound than its predecessor, better noise cancellation, and a new foldable design that makes it more portable.

The previous generation of Sony’s headphones is down to its lowest price and sounds almost as good.

If you want headphones that can block out everything from coffee-shop chatter to the roar of an airplane engine, Bose’s latest headphones can’t be beat.

Apple’s over-ear headphones have solid noise cancellation, excellent sound, and can seamlessly switch between all your Apple devices. Right now, they’re down to the lowest price I’ve seen since July.

Sonos’s first pair of headphones are down to their lowest price ever. They sound as good as Bose’s QuietComfort Ultra headphones, and they’re surprisingly comfortable. “Other over-ear headphones give me tension headaches within an hour or two, but the Ace’s light grip lets me wear them all day without discomfort,” says Strategist senior writer Michael Zhao.

Our pick for the best less-expensive noise-canceling headphones is down to its lowest price ever. While they don’t sound quite as good as the Bose or Sony headphones, their sound can’t be beat for this price.

I’ve long been a fan of JBL’s Tour Pro line ofearbudsthanks to their impressively rich sound, effective noise cancellation, and on-case display that lets you control media playback without needing to pull out your phone. Using the newAuracasttechnology, you can also use the case to transmit audio to a second device, like a friend’s headphones or speakers. They’re down to nearly their lowest price yet.

The company’s Live Beam 3 earbuds are like a pared-down version of the Tour Pro 3’s in a lighter case. They don’t have Auracast support, but their battery life is a bit longer than the Tour Pro 3’s.

This year’s update of the AirPods Pro is the most impressive yet. They’re more comfortable than previous models, have richer and more balanced sound than the AirPods Pro 2, and feature on-device heart-rate tracking so you don’t need to wear a watch to track your runs.

These are the first standard AirPods to feature noise cancellation, and they’re down to their lowest price to date.

Like the AirPods Pro 3, Apple’s fitness earbuds feature heart-rate monitoring and good noise cancellation, plus they have clips that ensure they won’t fall off your ears while you’re on a ride or run.

If you have a Galaxy phone, these earbuds will pair more seamlessly with it than other models. They sound nearly as good as the AirPods Pro 3.

For under $100 — the best price I’ve seen for these earbuds — you won’t find a better-sounding pair.

Our pick for the bestBluetooth speakeris down to its lowest price yet. Despite its compact size — which makes it easy to toss in a bag and carry around — it’s quite loud and sounds excellent.

If you want a speaker that can fill your room with rich sound and booming bass, plus put on a light show while it does it, get this party speaker from Sony while it’s down to its lowest price yet.

I love traveling with this speaker. It’s light, comes in a fun purple color, and has a built-in carabiner that you can clip to a bag, showerhead, or camping gear.

This is one of the best-sounding Bluetooth speakers I’ve tested, and its unique design makes it worthy of flaunting on a shelf. It also works with Google Assistant and Alexa, so you can switch tracks totally hands-free.

While this speaker can function as a typical Bluetooth speaker, it works better when paired with other Sonos equipment. The handle on the back makes it easy to scoop off the table and move around.

If you’re sick of cranking your TV’s volume to hear what an actor just said, now’s the time to get a soundbar. We named this thebest soundbar overallthanks to its outstanding sound and ability to connect with other Sonos speakers for a more robust listening experience. It’s down to its lowest price right now.

If you want a soundbar with a dedicated subwoofer (without having to buy one separately), you can save a few bucks on our best less-expensive soundbar, too.

This tiny soundbar has Roku’s streaming software built right in, so you don’t have to worry about having a bunch of cables behind your TV. And like most soundbars, you can connect this one to other devices like a computer or Playstation 5.

Strategist senior writer Michael ZhaosaysLG’s C-line of 4K TVs is the only one he recommends, thanks to its balance of value, design, and size options. This 42-inch model is down to its lowest price ever right now.

If you’re still using your smart TV’s built-in streaming apps, it’s time to move to astreaming device, as TVs tend tocollect a lot of data. This one from Roku is down to its lowest price to date. It can access nearly any streaming service and plays everything in 4K. Plus, it’s small enough to travel with so you can bring your favorite shows to your hotel room.

If you want a more customizable streaming device, Amazon’s streaming stick does everything Roku’s can, and it has a much larger app ecosystem.

It’s not Apple’s most powerfuliPad, but it’s the most affordable, and it’s still a great tablet. This bundle, which comes with two years of AppleCare+, is down to the lowest price I’ve seen.

Despite not having the same M5 processor as the latest iPad Pro, the Air’s M3 chip is powerful enough to get through a day’s worth of emails, document editing, and note taking. And like the standard iPad, it’s the cheapest it has ever been.

Black Friday is the best time to buy a Kindle, as Amazon consistently discounts most of its e-readers. The flagship Paperwhite, which has been our pick forbest e-reader overallfor several years running, is at its best price to date right now. For $30 more, you can also get thekid-friendly versionthat already has ads removed and comes with a case.

The standard Kindle, which is smaller than the Paperwhite, is on sale right now too. It has become my go-to when I’m traveling.

Amazon’s first color e-reader feels a lot like the Paperwhite, but it’s better for reading comic books and graphic novels.

Onyx’s Boox line of Android-powered e-readers is more customizable than the Kindle, and they can run apps from the Google Play Store. The Note Air 4C is a tad smaller than the standard iPad and has a color e-ink screen and stylus support, so it works for taking notes as well as reading.

The Boox Palma 2 is my favorite e-reader to date. It’s about the size of my iPhone 15 Pro Max, so it fits in my pocket, and because it runs Android, I can read articles and newsletters on it; Kindles can’t do that without some extra fiddling. This is the lowest price I’ve seen for it, so I’d recommend grabbing it now.

Amazon’s biggest Kindle is great for taking notes thanks to its stylus support. You can even write over text inside your books if you’re a staunch annotator.

Apple’s most recent Watch just came out two months ago, but it’s already getting a nice discount at $50 off. It’s a minor upgrade over the Series 10, with longer battery life and a more durable screen.

The last-generation Apple Watch Ultra is currently at its lowest price to date, and it’s still an excellent watch. It’s the one I always wear thanks to its large, vibrant display, additional action button to trigger workouts, and extra-rugged design.

If you want a feature-packed fitness tracker that won’t add another screen to your life, get the latest Whoop tracker while it’s on sale. It can track workouts, sleep patterns, stress levels, menstrual cycles, and more.

The newest Galaxy Watch isn’t a huge upgrade from the Watch 7, but its bright and colorful display is easy to see in broad daylight, and it’s a great workout tracker. It’s only been out for a handful of months, but it’s already getting a pretty significant discount.

This has quickly become my favorite fitness tracker. Unlike the Apple Watch I usually sport, I can wear this ring while I’m kickboxing and still track the calories I’m burning. It’s quite pricey for a ring, but right now it’s down to the lowest price I’ve ever seen.

Our pick for thebest robot vacuum for petsis powerful enough to pick up most pet hair, and it was already quite affordable for a robot vacuum before this discount. Now it’s a steal.

But if you need a robot that’ll scrub your floors, too, few have performed as well in my testing as the Qrevo Slim. I’ve never seen it discounted this much, so grab it while you can.

Thisalarm clockconvinced me I shouldn’t use my phone as my alarm anymore. Its wake-up tones are gentler than Apple’s, and it has a soft light that simulates a sunrise, which makes waking up a tad more pleasant. It also has Bluetooth built in, so you can use it to listen to a podcast or playlist before bed.

I love the Loftie but prefer the Hatch Restore 3 thanks to its multicolored LED that gets brighter than the Loftie. Its buttons are also easier to hit without looking, which is nice since my eyes are usually the last things to wake up.

Our pick for thebest digital picture frame overallhas a 12-inch screen that will make all your photos pop. You can upload pictures from Aura’s app, and if you know someone else with an Aura frame, you can send pictures to their frame, too. It makes a great gift.

Aura’s Carver has a lower-resolution screen than the Mason, but it’ll save you some money, and pictures still look great on it. And because its screen is bigger than the Mason’s, it’s easier to see from a distance.

Aura’s frames have long beenStrategist favorites, but the Skylight Frame 2 is a great alternative. Unlike Aura’s frames, the Skylight has swappable frames that you can easily switch to match the vibe of whatever room it’s in.

If your family calendar is always stacked, Skylight’s calendar is an excellent way to show everyone what’s happening on any given day so no appointments or practices get missed. Several Strategist editors swear by theirs.

If you like to control your electronics hands-free, this plug works with Alexa so you can flip a switch with a quick voice command.

Smart lightbulbsare often costly, so bundles are a handy way to get enough bulbs to cover your house and save a bit of money. These bulbs are multicolored, so you can set custom colors from the Philips Hue app, and you can always get more lightbulbs later if you need them.

Zhao named these thebest less-expensive smart lightbulbs, and they’re almost as feature packed as offerings from more well-known brands like Philips and WiZ.

If you’re just getting started on your smart lighting journey, this pack comes with everything you need. And with the money you save, you can pick up a couple extra bulbs.

If you’re eager to get into the holiday spirit, you can also get these festive string lights — which are nearly down to their lowest price ever — to decorate your tree or your home.

If you want to add some accent lighting to your room (like, say, for a Twitch setup), Zhao says this one produces accurate whites and colors and gets extremely bright.

If you’ve been holding off on dipping your toe in the world of VR,Meta’s budget headsetis a good entry point. It’s powerful enough to play games likeBatman: Arkham Shadowand has hand tracking so you can control certain games without needing the physical controllers.

If you’ve been holding off on getting a PS5, it’s down to nearly its lowest price ever.

Apple’s M-series of processors have consistently impressed me with their balance of battery life and performance. The latest M5 is the fastest yet, and since my M1 MacBook only started to show its age late last year, the new one will be sure to last for years to come.

I’ve been using this computer as my main work machine for almost a year, and it has yet to let me down. It’s plenty powerful for handling everyday tasks like document editing, web browsing, chatting in Slack, and batch-photo processing.

You can slip this slim card right into your wallet, and it works with Apple’s Find My so you’ll never lose your wallet.

Let the frequent flier in your life use theirearbudsorheadphonesinstead of the cruddy airline ones.

This all-in-one charger has a built-in cable so you can charge any USB-C device, plus A/C prongs so you can charge it without needing an extra power brick.

I take this charger everywhere. It has MagSafe built in so I can slap it right onto my iPhone, or use the attached USB-C cable to charge my headphones, e-reader, or any other gear I’m carrying.

If I’m traveling, I bring this charger along, too. It doesn’t have any cables built in, but it has enough battery to charge a laptop, and it can charge up to five devices at once. It even has a Qi charging pad on the top.

Three-in-one wireless charging stations usually aren’t cheap, but they’re extremely convenient. This one from Anker can charge an iPhone, AirPods case, and Apple Watch all at once. It even collapses so you can stuff it in your bag and travel with it.

This four-pack of Apple trackers is far cheaper than replacing your suitcase, wallet, or whatever else you attach an AirTag to.

If you prefer to take your notes on paper but still want to sync them to your computer, Moleskine’s writing system is the most seamless way to accomplish that. All you have to do is use the included smart pen, which will upload all your pen strokes to Moleskine’s app in almost real time.